To ask you for the things your parents taught you/ did that you just do without thinking??

[Christmastits]

So tonight is like a zoo on the ward im in, people in and out all night. I'm trying to sleep but I can't. My mum came up today to visit me and we were talking about her new dishwasher and I was thinking about that and how when I was a kid the finish powerball things came out and when I 7 I got to put the tablet in the dishwasher

I remember my dad making this massive deal about how you shouldn't touch the tablet- especially the red ball and really drilled it home. So I used to open the tablet and then squeeze it into the tray in the packet never touching the tablet. I still do that today! It was probably because my dad thought I might eat it but I still do the weird dishwasher stuff.

I once heard of a woman who chopped her bacon in half- binned one half and cooked the rest. Her DH asked why bacon was so small and she said that her mum taught her to do it that way, so they asked the Mum and she said that her Mum had taught her that way- they asked the Granny why she chopped the bacon in half and she said that her pan was too small to cook a whole piece of bacon!! 😂 hilarious!

Also my mum took meat out of the freezer and put it on the microwave (because it's out of the way) so I did the same but DH will pick it up and put it on the cooker as that's what his mum does as her microwave is integrated... really annoys me! Although I've started putting it in the fridge because good hygiene..

So please help me get through tonight with your funny things your parents did that you just copied until you thought about it!

My mum was so paranoid that we would electrocute ourselves by sticking a fork into the toaster, that she taught us to do the following if the toast was stuck:

1. Unplug toaster.
2. Use a WOODEN implement to dislodge the toast.

Of course, I taught my dd the same. When she was about eight, she asked why she had to take BOTH precautions rather than doing one or the other. "Just to be extra safe," I said, knowing how ludicrous it must sound.

Since then I have made a strong effort to either unplug the toaster OR use a wooden spoon, NOT both. It is really hard to overcome my training!!

I always peel potatoes in a sink full of water. I thought about this the other day and realised that I only do that because my mum always did. But that was because she used to buy sacks of potatoes that were still covered in mud. I buy the nice clean ones from the supermarket so don't really need the water I suppose.

Doing the shopping list in the order it comes in the supermarket. My mum did this when we were growing up and I've just picked up the habit.

She also mentioned when she came to visit that she liked being in my kitchen as she could just tell which cupboard things would be in as it was arranged just like hers I didn't know I had picked that up!

Regarding the bacon and the too small pan, this is almost certainly an urban myth. I remember reading on snopes about someone who always cut the end off the Sunday joint because her mother had. When she asked her mum she was told it was because her grandmother had done it. Her grandmother then told her this was because she only had a small roasting pan.

Saracen - you need some wooden toaster tongs! They are an awesome bit of kit for that stray bit of hot cross bun

I went to a friends house once in my 20s and her mum spent about 15 minutes getting a quiche out of its metal container. She cut slits down each side, then again and again and again until it concertinaed out.

I tip it out and flip it back over.

When I first moved in with DH, he always had a tea towel on the kitchen floor. I kept picking them up and putting them in the wash, thinking he was being lazy/ forgetful. One day he asked where all the tea towels kept going. It turns out that his Mum always has one on the kitchen floor, “ready to mop up spills”.

We don’t have one on our floor any more!!

I fold socks neatly like my late great Nan, she passed when I was 6 weeks old but she likes things 'just so' and it's how we remember her

Gah, my husband peels veg into the sink because that’s what his mum does. Just do it straight into the bin instead of adding an extra step FFS! He doesn’t turn the tap on or anything, it’s literally a mess-making exercise and winds me up no end

Yes! My DH does this too and the extra step drives me nuts!

Hang on. Are you NOT supposed to peel mushrooms?

I peel mushrooms too. That's what my dad does and why I (like him) usually buy the big flat mushrooms as they're way easier to peel. He always told me it's because you don't want to wash mushrooms, as they're a bit kore porous than your carrots/potatoes etc, and we're always frying them, so you don't want wet soggy mushrooms in the frying pan.
Made sense to me.

*More, not kore

Putting crosses in the bottom of sprouts. I did that for years before I realised it was pointless.

That's about it. I tend to watch what my mother does and then do the direct opposite.

I don't peel or wash mushrooms now. I do have a mushroom brush though.

Switch the telly off if it is thunder and lightening and don't use the phone. I still do it. I really don't know if it is necessary??

I too peeled mushrooms for years before I realised that you only needed to brush them. Not food related, but I never put new shoes on a table. It was bad luck according to my mum.

Haisuli I do that. there have been a few cases of lightning hitting tv aerials and travelling through to the tv and blowing it up. Also unplug the modem for the same reason

I’m another mushroom peeler. Washing mushrooms makes them slimy.
My mum peeled potatoes under water too. The nice people in Asda was my potatoes before I buy them.

Also I’ve never bought Savoy cabbage because my mother said it wasn’t nice. I have eaten every other vegetable but never bought a Savoy cabbage

It’s all vegetables related!

I love Savoy cabbage! Never had it til I was an adult.

I'm astounded to hear how many other mushroom peelers there are.

I even have a tiny little knife used only for that, just like my mum.

I never put new shoes on a table either as mum always said it was bad luck.

Ooh is it really not worth putting crosses in sprouts? How exciting, if that's the case I'll gain back about 10 mins a year

I still feel very uncomfortable seeing unwashed dishes on the sink. My DM always used to make such a big thing about clearing up straight after the meal, so it's something that I've always set great store by as well. But it's also part of my anxiety, I know that, and I'm easing off on it now, as my DH was getting just a bit fed up with me about it.

But there is a reason to put crosses in sprout stalks! They're tougher andvto avoid having to boil the crap out of sprouts and make them mushy and horrible, you slice a cross into the stalk so there's more surface area and thus the stalk cooks through quicker so you don't have to overlook the leafy bit.
I do the same if I have particularly fat stalks on broccoli.

Another one for sweeping the kitchen floor. My mum never hoovered the kitchen and I simply do the same. Drives DH mad!

If we ever buy a newspaper, my DH fucking irons the paper before he reads. Like he is in Downton abbey or something. His DF used to do this and he does the same.

You needn't put crosses in sprouts? That's very much the memory of either grandma that came to stay at Christmas ( I don't cook sprouts normally)!

Yes to shopping list matching the layout of the supermarket.

When washing/chopping potatoes, I turn the knife over and use the blunt side to scrape off any bad bits having copied my mum.

Having a bag for life in the cupboard under the stairs filled with loads of empty carrier bags 'just in case'. I went to my mum's the other day and she still does it! Now I do too