My wife went to stay with her sister for a fortnight on the Coast. She left last Saturday, and will be back next Saturday. Before she left, she wrote down explicit instructions as to how she cooks my favourite dishes. Also, bear in mind, I have been watching her cook, on and off, for 50yrs. So why have my efforts been so unsuccessful. I follow her instructions to the letter, even down to pre-heating the oven. Yet I still end up with a mix of bland, sometimes overcooked to the point of burnt offerings on my plate. I am tempted to spend next week ordering takeaways.
The Woman's Touch
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04-10-25 17:12I wonder if (maybe where the bloke aspect comes into it) you're trying to do it too scientifically? I don't have any evidence but I always thought cooking was about instinct and emotion, not exact numbers and science
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05-10-25 16:19
I had to take over cooking as my wife's condition got worse, I got running instruction's but it still was not right. When I asked why, I would be told, you left this or that out, I would plead but you didn't say, the response would be but everybody knows that!🙄 -
05-10-25 17:06It would be much the same in our house, except the other way around. I do all the cooking.
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05-10-25 18:46My grandmother who died in 2001 started her first job as a nurse and was told to do the tea round. She'd never made tea herself but didn't dare tell the matron, she remembered her mother doing it "one spoonful per person and one for the pot". So, she counted all the patients on the ward, about 16, and the nurses, 6, plus her and a couple of other people... the matron came in and saw her stirring a big pot with 25 spoonfuls of tea in it like some kind of soup 😔
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06-10-25 11:32@Drivingforfun You may well be right on the scientific approach. My mother used to make fantastic cakes, yet never used scales for the ingredients. When I once asked for a recipe for one of her cakes, her response was along the lines of; 'a little bit of this and a little bit of that'.
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Community Manager06-10-25 12:08Time to make a bit of a cheesy comment, but maybe the secret ingredient is love 😍
Sorry guys, Monday has been stressful! 😂 End of random comment. Wishing you all a great week!
@Rolebama I am a big fan of takeaways when my husband is away, go for it. A good Marks and Spencer's ready meal is also a fantastic alternative.Last edited by Lily; 06-10-25 at 12:10.
Lily
Got a question or want to start a discussion? Create a new post here. ✍ -
07-10-25 08:36I think it works the other way round, too
Won't add genders into it being a wokey millennial and also know it works both way rounds (my mum grew up with a mechanic dad; it's my dad who tends to labour modern cars!!!!)
Tell someone "this car doesn't like to be put in 5th till well over 30mph"
Driving up a steep hill at 40mph, car struggling
"Drop down a gear or two"
"You said to put it in 5th at 30mph"
"Yeah but, I thought it was obv...never mind" -
12-10-25 09:34I once spent hours under my father-in-law's car changing all the crankshaft bearing shells, as well as polishing all the journals with Bluebell. I also advised him to get rid of the 100s of lbs of nuts, screws, bolts etc that he carried 'because they might come in handy'. I also told him it would need running in. Two days later he asked me to have a look as that 'funny noise' was back. My mother-in-law chimed in, telling me he had driven up a very steep local road, still with all his stuff in the back, and their two sons shouting at him that he should change down!
That was when I told him I was never working on any more of his cars.
