To think that, unless you know the kitchen they were made in is very clean, homemade edible gifts go straight in the bin

[Bearbehind]

Especially this year

Given we’re sanitising things we touch and are ultra conscious about the spread of germs etc - AIBU to think that if you get edible gifts from someone’s who’s kitchen you either don’t know or don’t think is very clean - you’d just bin it?

I’m not saying you can catch Covid from the food but it’s the principle of not knowing how hygenic stuff is

I’m not a fan of homemade gifts at the best of times - I think a sort of rule should be that unless your homemade items are good enough to sell for actual money, then please don’t do it

No one is going to admit they binned it but I do hope those who would make homemade edible gifts, especially for teachers, this year think twice

For me it totally isn’t about cleanliness.
It’s something to do with association as another poster said, almost as if knowing the provenance of the edible item sends my mind into overdrive.

Do you request a tour before accepting an invitation?

Eh? Surely you visit people’s houses for a coffee / play date whatever and going for dinner isn’t the first time you’ve ever been.?

And of course we must consider how ultra hygienic all restaurant and food manufacturing premises are...

Rethink your attitude, OP, or you might never eat again.

I would hate to waste people's time. And I would hate for people to waste mine. That's why the truth is so important.

But you didn’t ask them if they wanted the bunting - you just made it anyway

They obviously realised it had taken you time so didn’t want to offend you by saying they didn’t like it

But you then laboured the point by asking where it was instead of reading the signs and just not bothering again

@Bearbehind

Do you request a tour before accepting an invitation?

Eh? Surely you visit people’s houses for a coffee / play date whatever and going for dinner isn’t the first time you’ve ever been.?

First I don't give a tour of my kitchen to people who are invited for a coffee anyway

but more importantly, most of us are not SAH people and the first time we go to someone's house usually IS for diner!

What a weird comment, it sounds like you do not get out much.

I'm a binner too OP!

Even pre Covid I didn't touch the homemade stuff at buffets. Especially stuff made by peoples kids. Same for bake sales etc. I could do without a bout of the shits cos Betty let's her dog lick the spoon.

The silly thing is Jam is heated to 85 degrees to get it to set. Germs and viruses are killed at 56 degrees which is why your dishwasher runs at that temperature. The same with any baked goods, the heat will kill any germs.

And I'll guarantee home made jam is made with better quality fruit than factory produce.

What a weird comment, it sounds like you do not get out much.

Surely if it’s you who visits peoples houses for the first time for dinner then it’s you who gets out less than me 🤔

@BombyliusMajor

My husband has a special term for unwelcome homemade baked goods: ‘stranger cakes’. It never bothered me until I met him, and now I can’t go to a bake sale without imagining baked-in hairs and grubby toddler fingerprints 🤢

I wonder if your husband’s own hygiene antics are up to scratch, though? Excuse the use of the word “scratch”... And what about your own?

Best not dwell on that for too long.

Actually Bearbehind thinking about it, the first time I have been in many people's house is when I spent a weekend there or at least a night (and vice-versa).

I know, you must think we are suicidal or something!

@Bearbehind

What a weird comment, it sounds like you do not get out much.

Surely if it’s you who visits peoples houses for the first time for dinner then it’s you who gets out less than me 🤔

or maybe I have better things to do with my days than visiting new acquaintance' kitchen?

@Bearbehind

I would hate to waste people's time. And I would hate for people to waste mine. That's why the truth is so important.

But you didn’t ask them if they wanted the bunting - you just made it anyway

They obviously realised it had taken you time so didn’t want to offend you by saying they didn’t like it

But you then laboured the point by asking where it was instead of reading the signs and just not bothering again

I believed it was something they would like. They actually have bunting up in her room now. So I wasn't too far off the mark. They just didn't like mine. And that's OK. I'm not heart broken and I'm not offended.

If it causes them as much upset as it causes you then I do feel bad for what I did. I wouldn't want to make anyone feel so frustrated by a gift.

@BexR

I'm a binner too OP!

Even pre Covid I didn't touch the homemade stuff at buffets. Especially stuff made by peoples kids. Same for bake sales etc. I could do without a bout of the shits cos Betty let's her dog lick the spoon.

And yet you have such an unedifying mode of expression.

I could do without a bout of the shits...

🤢

Covid will have to be a dim and distant memory before any responsible employer allows the sharing of food in an office - it’s simply not worth the risk as it stands
Why, it’s not the employer dictating that people bring in homemade food and that everyone must eat it..? I don’t see why it’s anything to do with the employer.

We certainly never ran it by HR whenever anyone brought in a cake

@MaxNormal

Good old MN, privileged first-world women with high neurosis levels.

You pitiful misogynist.

Plenty of ppl in my office are still bringing in food and we are still all eating it! What’s your issue??

I have eaten plenty of homemade gifts but have been in two kitchens one of an acquaintance and one a friend where there is no way I would even want to accept a drink as really filthy kitchens. You would never ever have thought they lived in such grubbiness.

I mean if you think a cat fresh out if its litter box which was in the kitchen and over flowing walking across a counter top and then seeing your mate make a sandwich directly on the counter top the cat had just sauntered across is fine then go ahead.

zigazig it’s nothing like the old world

HR will be involved in stuff like this going forwards, whether you like it or not

Either people like the OP have a poor understanding of the risk of food poisoning in different settings, or it’s a mental health issue around hygiene / control.

Incidentally, did anyone see ‘Come Dine with Me’ today and the crazy opera singing lady with her dog?
She constructed a gingerbread house for dessert and gave it to her dog to sniff during the food prep filming. Just gross.

People at home, do do weird shit with their food. There will no doubt be posters here who wouldn’t think twice about putting their plate on the floor so that the dog could finish the leftovers; or one woman I know would leave the oven door open and her two cats could be found licking the bacon residue off the grill pan.
Many of you will have no issue with the cat patrolling the kitchen worktops or having a child lick the spoon and have a bit of a double dip into the cake batter - it’s going into the oven anyway eh?!

Some people will think nothing about any of these things and fine. I wouldn’t tell you how to live. But personally all the above makes me feel physically sick and I can’t blame anyone who chooses not to eat something that they aren’t 100% sure where it’s come from.

Not in my world? HR not interested!!

I would hope that if someone didn't want a gift they would just politely decline.

Bearbehind
Now I am intrigued

Say I invite you for a coffee, how does that work? Do you request to see my kitchen first? Do you pretend you need the loo and sneak in to have a peek?

Do you check the fridge and cupboard to see how clean they are, and how in date the content is?

Do you refuse to drink the coffee, let alone eat the cakes, if my kitchen is not up to your standard?

@00100001

don;t all the "eeew, chuck it away"-ers ever go to other people's for dinner??

Nope.

Again, mostly due to ASD. I'm incredibly uncomfortable in other peoples homes and would rather meet up in a neutral space instead.

What a bundle of joy you are.