Get Out of My Kitchen!

So my mother-in-law is visiting for a couple of weeks to help out with the new baby. This is great, much appreciated, etc, but I quickly learned that I have an extremely low tolerance for anyone messing with my kitchen. So far, she has: ruined our one non-stick pan (All Clad) by repeatedly using metal utensils on it despite being asked not to; inadvertently rearranged our cabinets by putting things in the wrong spots (hon, why is this bag of pasta behind the baking supplies?); apparently permanently lost several utensils AND almost every single piece of the older kid's dishware; and also, she doesn't believe in cutting boards. My husband thinks I'm being persnickety. I say this would drive anyone crazy. In fact, she's been completely banned from my sister-in-law's kitchen for similar reasons.

Anyway, the above are clearly pretty egregious actions (unless my husband is right, I'm just picky and most people wouldn't mind a bit) but it led me to wonder if other cooks/bakers are equally possessive of their kitchens. Do you find it easy to yield space? Or does the thought of turning it over to another person give you the willies?

I hate people in my kitchen.

I love my wife, but the woman could burn water. Everytime she walks into the kitchen I cringe.

Her new discovery is fried eggs. She refuses to use a non-stick pan believing they contaminate the food, so her solution to prevent the eggs from sticking in a stainless steel skillet is more oil, lots more oil. Ever see someone deep fry eggs? I didn't think so, because it's insane.
She apparently does not appear to belive that egg shells go in the trash; in her world the proper place for them is directly on the kitchen counter.
The end result is a skillet with burnt egg welded to the bottom sitting in an inch of oil, a splattered stove, and an eggy sticky countertop.

My fantasy is to construct a seperate kitchen in the basement and simply abandon the original one to let her do as she pleases as long as she stays out of mine.

I am 100% with you. I can tolerate Queijo and my brother in law in my kitchen. Other than those two, no way, particularly with my knives....I shudder thinking of it.

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:ruined our one non-stick pan (All Clad) by repeatedly using metal utensils on it despite being asked not to

??? I think she's lucky to only get banned from the kitchen! She's lucky you're not making her stay in a tent in the backyard.

(My ideas for our kitchen remodel were based on how best to keep people out of 'my' space)

In my former kitchen I had an island and I threatened to get those velvet ropes they have in theaters installed to keep people out from my space. My current kitchen is tiny and there is not much room for people in it so I do not have as much of a problem. People see how small it is and keep out!!

I hate people in my kitchen.
I love my wife, but the woman could burn water. Everytime she walks into the kitchen I cringe.

Speak it Brother!
The only person I ever allowed full access to my kitchen (other than my son) was my ex sister-in-law. We did get into some major fights when my mother in law was here as well. The SIL and I would fight about who got to be in the kitchen to be away from the MIL. We did compromise where one would sit & drink while the other would do dinner.

My wife knows to stay away. One time I was making a loaded quiche to bring into work and she walked into the kitchen while I was in the bathroom and snarfed up most of the bacon. A mistake that she never made again.

My wife and I work well together in the same kitchen, as do both of us and at least 2 other couples we dine and cook with, both in their kitchens and our own. Never had a problem, even in close quarters, like a small summer place. I also have a bro-in-law who's a great cook but a total alpha male in the kitchen. So when we visit, I just mentally assign myself sous status, take orders, and things work out great.

Parents and parent in-laws are another story. I think it's generational.
My mom is a great cook. My mother in-law, not. But they are equally forces of chaos and apocalypse in our kitchen in exactly the same ways as listed by the OP. My mom-in-law will go to the store and, by some unerring instinct, come back with the very worst-of-the-worst in any supermarket category---frozen mixed vegetables in disgusting glutinous "sauces," etc., or using a metal spatula to dig deep crevices in baking pans. Meanwhile, my now frail and elderly mom will ignore all entreaties to sit, and totter around, dropping, breaking, ruining, and misplacing things, all the while asking questions like, "Where to you keep your milk?"

I love them both, and I have found no solution except non-attachment. I have become non-attached to some very nice kitchen things over the years.

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:I say this would drive anyone crazy. In fact, she's been completely banned from my sister-in-law's kitchen for similar reasons.

Anyway, the above are clearly pretty egregious actions (unless my husband is right, I'm just picky and most people wouldn't mind a bit) but it led me to wonder if other cooks/bakers are equally possessive of their kitchens. Do you find it easy to yield space? Or does the thought of turning it over to another person give you the willies?

It would drive me crazy as well. I don't think you're being persnickety. My dearest does the dishes almost always, and I love him for it, but no matter how many times I tell him where stuff goes, it ends up in a new spot, and it takes me longer to find a thing than the time I would need to use it.

Honey, if you're reading this, you have hundreds of other, wonderful qualities.

We have never hosted a holiday dinner for his entire family, citing no place for the kids to play (although they're almost all grown now) and not enough room for everyone in our apartment for a sit-down dinner (true). But one of my main reasons is that I would have a fit if anyone stepped in the kitchen or, god forbid, tried to help out. I think air raid-type sirens would sound and the lights would go dark, then turn red like in Crimson Tide. I don't even like when we invite my parents to dinner and mom tries to help, just because if I'm doing something else, I can't watch her.

zoid wrote:She apparently does not appear to belive that egg shells go in the trash; in her world the proper place for them is directly on the kitchen counter.

Our former, insane, steroid-abusing neighbor used to keep uncovered eggshells on the porch. (Enclosed, thankfully, but a porch that we shared and was steps away from the side door.)