AnneL

NolaFoodie, the only way I could keep quiet is that she is our daycare provider and a very good one at that. Sometimes I think her strange habits are from being around too many children all day I felt like my child was being too picky, but he loves hamburger patties, so of course as soon as he saw them, he wanted one. The chicken was likely a little strongly spiced for his tastes anyway, and I had forgotten to make him a hot dog or something else. At least my older son has gotten over the pickiness; I hope the little one does as well. However, older son will not eat green beans, no way, no how, not ever since he was a baby. It's funny, actually, because the little son loves them and taunts his brother with a green bean. Goofy guy.

Um, why were 5 grape tomatoes "a bit much"? Hell, if they're particularly good, give me the container and the heck with the rest of the salad! I can't wait for my garden tomatoes to ripen; I live in western Canada so it'll be a while yet. That is, if we don't get a big hailstorm or something.

That's truly inspiring.

Oh, let me tell you it was hard to grin and bear it. But the annoying childish qualities that the daycare lady has are the same qualities that I think make her good at her job. My kids adore her, anyway. However, if they want to come out again, I think we'll be "busy". We used to camp with them, but had separate camper trailers and sites. That's much different than having someone as a houseguest. We cooked our meals as wanted, and so did they. Huh, just thought of something. They stayed 2 nights and 3 days, and did not use the shower or bath facilities because they didn't want to impose. Our cottage has a full bathroom with septic tank and a well, so we have no shortage of water. I know they shower everyday at home, so this is really strange to me. Smelling someone's unwashed body is more of an imposition, wouldn't you say?

What a timely topic. We had guests the past weekend at our summer cottage. These guests are my daycare provider and her husband. They kind of invited themselves out to the cottage, but we had planned on inviting them anyway, so no matter. I love to cook for people, but knowing that these people were very fussy, told them what I had planned for 2 days' worth of meals, and that they were welcome to bring any food or drink they preferred. Well, it was interesting, to say the least. We had herb-marinated chicken and grilled potatoes for our dinner one evening. They turned their noses up at the chicken because it was "too spicy" and had hamburger patties on white buns. Well, my 5 year old is not fond of this chicken and asked if he could have one of the hamburgers. They had brought 4, enough for only the two of them, and the husband said that he would give up a burger if his wife would eat the chicken. She said that it smelled too spicy and she would throw up from spices They finally gave my little one his hamburger and the husband ate a portion of the chicken. He didn't really say whether it was good or not. They loved the potatoes, although they picked out the chives and grilled new carrots. They also complained about the type of coffee we use and were just rather annoying. She is an excellent daycare provider, however, so we just sucked it up and dealt. In the evening, they refused a glass of very good white wine as it was too sour and would make them drunk. Didn't stop them from downing most of a bottle of Bacardi limon and Pepsi though. Are they rude or just fussy? I would never comment on someone's food and hate it when someone comments on what I am eating. I am pretty adventurous and take some interesting things for lunch to work, which causes lots of comments.

50 or so, give or take a couple.

TuWanda, my long-lost sister-in-law! How are ya? Haven't had the pleasure of the "chili" but MIL's turkey dinners are something to behold. I've seen those Weight Watchers cards before. Sorry, but I'll keep my extra poundage if that's the crud you have to eat. The Gallery of Regrettable Food is just wonderful, and I'm sure I've inherited some of those cookbooks from my late mom. I'll have to go take a look in the stuff I got from her one of these days. Green bean dessert? Gah.

Ha, Katherine, I suppose that would work! This is my second marriage; the first mother-in-law wasn't a bad cook, albeit a bit boring. Divorce took care of her, although she was o.k. and much nicer than the one I have now. Ah well, my husband now is a sweet fellow and we only have to put up with his family every couple of years so it's doable. He doesn't get along very well with his family at all so it's not like I have to fake liking her or her food. Next time we visit it'll be with one of his sisters or in a hotel. We were out there this spring for a funeral and one of the meals cooked by his sisters featured overcooked roast beef, hacked into inch thick pieces, mashed potatoes with no milk, butter or anything else added and put on the table 3/4 hour before everything else and some vile salads. The only edible thing were the fresh strawberries and ice cream. Tony's mom wondered why I was just slicing them into a bowl with a little sugar to macerate. She told me to pour boiling water over the strawberries to soften them up for a sauce. Blasphemy! I told her she was out of her mind. A few drops of balsamico would have sent them screaming for the hills, I am sure.

Could be, Katherine, although as far as I know, no one goes by that name How do you survive? My sisters-in-law are equally bad cooks, although I do think they make an effort. They also don't seem to care or know whether food is good or bad; it's all the same to them. My husband used to be a truck driver; after all those years of bad food, truck stop food was probably like manna to him.

Oh my, this thread finally prompted me to post after reading the site for a little while. I love the site; there is so much information and so many wonderful people here. My mother-in-law is the worst cook I have ever seen in my life. Two of the more memorable (in a bad way!) meals I have had to put up with are: a gallon or so of water in a stock pot with one package of lipton chicken noodle soup mix, 2 pounds of regular ground beef, and 1 chopped onion. This was all mixed together in a pot and left to boil for about 2 hours. This was our lunch. The beef was not browned nor were there any other spices or seasonings added. One supper consisted of leftover beef roast cooked to death with lumpy mashed potatoes over top (her version of shepherds' pie) and baked in the oven. This was served with parmesan cheese that I kid you not, expired 3 years prior; you know the type in the green can. My husband dumped some on his meal and it was dark brown. I turned the can over to look at the expiration date and a beetle also fell out to join the mess on my plate. When we showed her this, she did not seem concerned, took some parmesan for herself and put the can back in the cupboard. Her salad dressings are also at least one year out of date. By the way, when she served us this excuse for a meal, the dog also got a portion in his bowl and she let him then eat the leftovers off her plate. She does not have a dishwasher. The worst part is that she lives a day's drive away and on a farm so one can't easily slip out for a snack or go home for something to eat. It was particularly nauseating when I was pregnant. I did take some snacks to eat while hiding out in our room. Her place is also dirty and stinks of mildew, dogs, and cigarette smoke. My poor husband grew up on this and does appreciate a good meal now, although he is not the food lover that I am. The last time we stayed there, we had a camper and cooked our own meals, but I don't know what we would do now since we sold the trailer. Thank goodness we don't visit often.