Easily Annoyed When Cooking

[boomchakabowwow]

i dont think it is normal. i sometimes get Agro cooking, and there is no doubt, it's 100% me. i check myself and asks myself this question, "would i like to hang out with myself when i am like this?". the answer is usually NO.

be kinder. nobody can read your mind.

 

[Michi]

I really detest it when my wife decides to muck around in the kitchen while I'm cooking.

There is a lot of movement involved. Getting something out of a drawer, out of the fridge, out of a cupboard, etc. In fact, when one person does everything, there is a lot of movement involved, except maybe during mise en place, when I spend a longish time at the cutting board. But, even then, I need to periodically get to the sink right near my prep area, or to the garbage bin underneath the sink. And, blam, there is my darling wife deciding to tidy up this or that and blocking access. Sigh…

So, my tolerance threshold is quite low. Quite often, I ask whether she can do what she's doing later, or if she please could leave me to it. Sometimes, I just walk out of the kitchen if nothing time-critical is going on and wait until she is done with whatever she is doing.

Note that the same thing does not happen at all when I cook with someone else, that is, when we have planned to cook a meal together and share the work. In that case, it's all about communication. "Could you do this while I do that?" and similar. And when, from the start, I know that someone else will be in the same space with me, my tolerance threshold for the occasional log jam is really high. Even though I inevitably "collide" with the other person every now and then, I don't get annoyed because my mindset from the beginning is different.

I guess I need to work on my mindset when I'm cooking alone, or on my tolerance threshold…

 

[JASinIL2006]

For me, cooking alone is somewhat like meditation, in that I find it a very focused but relaxing activity. I'm often thinking several steps ahead so things can progress smoothly, and it gives me a some happiness when that actually happens. If someone else is disrupting that flow, it's irritating because my flow is interrupted. Like Michi, if I plan to cook with someone else, my expectations are totally different and I'm much more comfortable with just letting things unfold as we work together. But if I'm planning to work in the kitchen alone, intrusions do make me rather cranky.

 

[WPerry]

I know that I need to take a breath and relax when cooking but it's hard to get over the need for speed in the kitchen.

I sometimes struggle to turn that off when I'm done cooking and the meal that may have taken me hours to prepare is sometimes consumed in minutes.

 

[esoo]

I sometimes struggle to turn that off when I'm done cooking and the meal that may have taken me hours to prepare is sometimes consumed in minutes.

My problem especially. Focusing on getting everything hot and to the table at once, and then sitting down to eat, the adrenaline is still pumping and then eating way too quick.

 

[Jovidah]

The biggest challenge for me is having to wait for certain dishes that need to cool down or rest first. I've basically stopped making lasagna because I almost never got to actually taste any of it. By the time it's finally coming out of the oven I just can't muster up the patience to sit there waiting for it to cool down, so I inevitably end up burning my tongue. Resting meat long enough is also a challenge.

 

[KJDedge]

Admitting you have a problem is the first step to curing the problem

 

[boomchakabowwow]

when my wife Taiwanese family shows up, i do one big meal. grilled stuff mostly since they dont get it back on their island. grilled lamb chops, grilled salmon heads and collars, oysters, etc. i go all out.

i cant speak Mandarin or Taiwanese so i'm damn near useless except for cooking and looking handsome. i am chill as a cucumber, despite that it is my biggest event. i eat grillside because those Taiwanese women are like jackels when it comes to grilled meats. they eat so fast, i would starve it if ran food into the house in stages while stuff cooks. hahah..

oh, and beer. beer and food straight off the grill = happy.

 

[Delat]

I used to get annoyed, but I made a mental shift. Same thing with driving, I used to get really peeved at bad drivers who’d cut me off or form rolling roadblocks (ok those rolling roadblocks do still tee me off).

Anyway, with driving I realized that getting worked up wasn’t hurting anyone except for me. I was going to arrive just the same at probably the same time either way, so now I just take it in stride and move on.

At home, I realized that dinner is going to land on the table regardless. A 10s inconvenience isn’t worth me being worked up and having a tee’d off wife. Now instead of getting upset I’ll make a joke and end up laughing instead of peeved. After dinner I’d much rather curl up on the couch next to a loving and happy wife than have us both be upset because I was a jackwagon for no good reason.

 

[boomchakabowwow]

I used to get annoyed, but I made a mental shift. Same thing with driving, I used to get really peeved at bad drivers who’d cut me off or form rolling roadblocks (ok those rolling roadblocks do still tee me off).

Anyway, with driving I realized that getting worked up wasn’t hurting anyone except for me. I was going to arrive just the same at probably the same time either way, so now I just take it in stride and move on.

At home, I realized that dinner is going to land on the table regardless. A 10s inconvenience isn’t worth me being worked up and having a tee’d off wife. Now instead of getting upset I’ll make a joke and end up laughing instead of peeved. After dinner I’d much rather curl up on the couch next to a loving and happy wife than have us both be upset because I was a jackwagon for no good reason.

that is a healthy attitude. I almost got my wife and I killed when I flipped off a mental patient driver while we were on my motorcycle. he tried to ram us.

right there and then, my road rage went completely away. it never made me feel any better anyways, and 100% after a few hours, minutes, maybe a day..I have completely forgotten the incident that "wronged me". there is no way to tell if some bad driver (and I have been that bad driver) is having a bad day or racing to get to a hospital or something. I just move over and listen to my jams. it's all good.

same in the kitchen..it will get to the table eventually. and it might be good, it might be MEH. it's all good.