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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to be annoyed by grown adults who say they can't cook?

214 replies

Mintyy · 18/11/2012 14:47

I don't think I am.

It just makes me think that the person saying as much is a little bit useless.

OP posts:
InNeedOfBrandy · 18/11/2012 15:48

Actually it would be better if no one drived the world would be a cleaner place.

LucieMay · 18/11/2012 15:48

If driving was a life skill, why I do have a perfectly normal life (work, school, social activities) without being able to drive?

squoosh · 18/11/2012 15:49

Driving is a life skill not an essential life skill.

Cooking is a life skill, not an essential life skill. Sourcing food is an essential life skill.

Everlong · 18/11/2012 15:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

chummymummy · 18/11/2012 15:53

I remember spending a lot of evenings in the kitchen with my mum n sisters wen we were younger. I hated it at the time and thought it really unfair. However I am so grateful now. I think this is true of a lot of asian families.

I am doing the same with my kids now. I see it as a life skill. like if you were dropped in the middle of a jungle would you be able to take care of yourself? I know it sounds silly but I think I would be able to kill it, cook it n eat it!

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 18/11/2012 15:56

What on earth is a 'grown adult'... and what the dickens does their ability to cook have to do with you, OP?

You're being ridiculous to get annoyed. Do you normally overreact to things?

InNeedOfBrandy · 18/11/2012 15:58

Driving might make your life easier but it is not essential and is not a life skill. Your life might be more awkward not driving but it wouldn't be impossible to live without it. It is quite possible to be independent and not drive as I demonstrate every day.

diddl · 18/11/2012 15:59

I can cook-but my God I loathe it!

Loobylou222 · 18/11/2012 16:05

Silly me I'm just a man"

My oh cooks pretty much everything from scratch, he was taught by jus grandma, it was a part of every day life.

I hate cooking.

He Is teaching me, but I find it very boring, and he bashes me do the shut jobs like chop the chicken!
It's the timings I can't get the hang of, I always overdo chicken as I worry it won't be cooked properly.

Loobylou222 · 18/11/2012 16:06

Wow that totally didn't make sence! He does not bash me!
He gives me the shit jobs!

BadgersBottom · 18/11/2012 16:13

Cooking keeps me sane. I suppose I feel a bit for people who can't but nobody can do everything - and if they think they can they're fools! I can't sew or knit or making greetings card and I wouldn't expect to be negatively judged on that particular lack of talent.

carabos · 18/11/2012 16:19

I think it's worse when people claim to be really good cooks and then turn out to be rubbish. It's a talent IMO. Yes if you can read you can follow a recipe, but there is another dimension to it I believe.

I can make tasty meals from scratch and bake but I would never describe myself as a good cook.

FromEsme · 18/11/2012 16:21

I once really upset a friend who said "look, I have cooked dinner from scratch today" and then showed me her stir fry covered in a gelatinous jar-sauce.

Apparently "that's not from scratch" isn't a nice thing to say. I was only 19 at the time, I would just go "mm, yummy" now.

Nothing wrong with sauce from the jar I'm lying, sauce from a jar is disgusting but it's not cooking from scratch.

Trills · 18/11/2012 16:28

Once you are an adult you can choose to learn or choose not to bother to learn. Even if your parents have taught you nothing about cooking.

BadgersBottom · 18/11/2012 16:30

Esme - you're right. There really is nothing more disgusting than sauce from a jar and I do tend to judge people who think that's ok. It's not. A few minutes spent looking at the ingredients would tell anyone that surely?

LucieMay · 18/11/2012 16:31

Everlong if I drove I still wouldn't drive to work because the bus is so frequent and parking as a pain, it just wouldn't be worth it. I also wouldn't bother driving him to school as the traffic gets so bad it's usually just easier to walk. So if I did have a car, it would just be sitting there at least five days a week.

Mrsjay · 18/11/2012 16:37

I dont drive cant cook and didnt even get my swim certificate I am a complete failure in everything Grin

I think making sure you and your family eat is different from getting pleasure out of cooking I really wish i did have that creative thing in me but i dont I cook so we dont starve or live off takeaways where as i have a friend who is an amazing cook and has a huge cook book collection and enjoys reading them i think it is her porn Grin

BananaBubbles · 18/11/2012 16:37

Does that apply to pasta sauce? I'm looking at the jar of sauce I use reguarly,and I can't see anything that'd make me go eew,on the ingredients list.

Tomatoes (60%),Tomato Purée ,Garlic Purée ,Parsley ,Sunflower Oil ,Sugar ,Extra Virgin Olive Oil ,Red Chilli ,Sea Salt ,Concentrated Lemon Juice ,Dried Red Chillies

I cannot imagine giving a toss about people using jars personally.

Everlong · 18/11/2012 16:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

sarahseashell · 18/11/2012 16:40

YABU - there are lots of jars of organic stuff/ ready made things which are healthy enough. Some people just detest cooking and are crap at it, get very flustered and stressed by it etc

squoosh · 18/11/2012 16:43

Why do people buy jars of carbonara sauce, that baffles me. It's only egg and parmesan and a couple of other ingredients.

Mrsjay · 18/11/2012 16:43

I tried to make my own tomato sauce for meatballs once god it was rank yet when i make bolgnaise using just about the same ingredients it tastes nice, I also cant get a cheese sauce right sometimes it works and other times it splits I have no clue what im doing wrong

FromEsme · 18/11/2012 16:44

It's weird, isn't it squoosh ? If people can't be arsed with the faff, why not just buy a ready meal? It's the same thing.

Then, I can't drive, so maybe I'm not allowed an opinion.

TheSmallPrint · 18/11/2012 16:44

I can't cook. What I mean by that is that I rarely have the time to cook 'properly' and so often if I try it doesn't end up anything like the recipe and often tastes horrible or slightly over /under cooked, seasoned wrong etc. some people are naturally skilled at certain things and others aren't. I can draw beautifully and do it for a living, if you can hold a pencil why can't you draw like a professional? That's how I would compare it anyway.

As long as there are ready meals I won't starve.

forevergreek · 18/11/2012 16:45

i do agree with you. everyone can cook if they try. a recipe can be found in a book or online in minutes. follow it, surely not that much can go wrong following a recipe

(fyi, my parents never cooked and we lived of ready made/ out of a tin options. when i left home, i sat down, looked a few things up and tried. im still not perfect by any means but i can make anything from scratch if i can get a recipe)