You Know You're An Older Cook When....

[fondue]

* When starting dinner means first finding your glasses.

* When you remove all throw rugs in the kitchen, worrying about twisting something.

* When you can eyeball a cup, identify all spices by smell, and remember 100+ recipes.

* When you no longer use a timer for baking, but sense of smell.

* When Julia Child's maxim about wine, "One for the soup, one for the chef" means prepping dinner takes three times longer!

[heidih]

Hmm -

-wear glasses for nearsighted so always on

-no rugs - neuropathy - always an issue

-the eyeballing etc - oh yes - measuring cups, scales - in your dreams

- the smell on done - oh ya

I think so much becomes instinct. It can be an issue when teaching new cooks. You feel like "duh this is obvious!"

Where I most notice it is with seasoning ----hello taste it!  and with dough especially phyllo. Watching the tutorial and doing it slowly does not work.

Thanks for the topic.

 

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I question either of you are older cooks.

 

[MetsFan5]

I’m feeling younger than I am. 

[Maison Rustique]

You choose utensils based on comfort in your arthritic hands and buy every new electric gadget out there that will mean you don't have to peel, cut, slice, dice manually. 

[heidih]

23 minutes ago, Maison Rustique said:

You choose utensils based on comfort in your arthritic hands and buy every new electric gadget out there that will mean you don't have to peel, cut, slice, dice manually. 

 

That would make sense but I am SO weirdly anti gadget.  I do keep a pair of adjustable pliers in the kitchen. Do NOT look at my chopped items. Heavy handed and "what is uniform? " I did look enviously at the gadget that helps you button and unbutton.  Earrings = things of the past. Oh on food - I tend to listen whereas younger cooks are running around with the thermapen and the timer down to the nano-second. 

[Katie Meadow]

8 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I question either of you are older cooks.

 

Agreed. And by the way, @fondue, I suggest that FORGETTING 100 + recipes is a better indication.

[heidih]

8 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I question either of you are older cooks.

 

 

I think 1957 buys me a ticket

[Margaret Pilgrim]

I have no doubt that I'd win this dubious contest but will continue under my guise of ingenue.    

[lindag]

48 minutes ago, Maison Rustique said:

You choose utensils based on comfort in your arthritic hands and buy every new electric gadget out there that will mean you don't have to peel, cut, slice, dice manually. 

BTDT!

[chromedome]

10 hours ago, fondue said:

* When starting dinner means first finding your glasses.

* When you remove all throw rugs in the kitchen, worrying about twisting something.

* When you can eyeball a cup, identify all spices by smell, and remember 100+ recipes.

* When you no longer use a timer for baking, but sense of smell.

* When Julia Child's maxim about wine, "One for the soup, one for the chef" means prepping dinner takes three times longer!

Can't do #4, because I'm too easily distracted (yay, ADD!). At the moment when I should be diligently sniffing the air, I'll be in another room attending to something I'd meant to do the day before. I'll smell the smoke around the same time the smoke detector does.

#1 is not especially pertinent for mealtimes, because I seldom work from a written recipe, but it's certainly valid when I do.

#2 is not an issue for me, because I won't have rugs or carpeting of any kind in my kitchen. Also don't drink while cooking, because it exacerbates the whole "too easily distracted" thing.

 

[Kim Shook]

2 hours ago, Maison Rustique said:

You choose utensils based on comfort in your arthritic hands and buy every new electric gadget out there that will mean you don't have to peel, cut, slice, dice manually. 

This.  I'm ready to start researching electric/battery can openers and pepper grinders.  What's really bothering me is how hard it is to use my knives and to grate cheese.  I bought one of those chopper things, but hate digging it out.  I can foresee lots of changes to get used to.  I can remember being really snotty and arrogant about gadgets (not quite as bad as that twit Alton Brown), but now that I am older and have hand issues, I am much more understanding about many of them.  

[Porthos]

When shopping you remember when ground beef was $0.39/lb.

You know exactly how long dinner will take to make based upon what you’re serving that night.

You wish your whole kitchen floor was made out of fatigue mats.

You didn’t have many, many close-by fast food franchises to let you bail on cooking with minimal impact.

[Tri2Cook]

When you go to the grocery store to get the things you need for what you want to cook only to find they've rearranged half the stuff in the store for the third time that week (yes, slight exaggeration) and your inner curmudgeon takes over and you actually ask the store manager if it's really necessary to rearrange the place every week.

 

For the record, said store manager's reply was  a friendly "well, every two weeks anyway" which was good for a laugh from me. 😁

[Alex]

...you use two hands to do a pan-flip, just in case.

[fondue]

4 hours ago, Katie Meadow said:

 And by the way, @fondue, I suggest that FORGETTING 100 + recipes is a better indication.

 

Heck, I could do that as a beginner!!  Also, see original post re: wine. 🙄

[heidih]

33 minutes ago, Tri2Cook said:

When you go to the grocery store to get the things you need for what you want to cook only to find they've rearranged half the stuff in the store for the third time that week (yes, slight exaggeration) and your inner curmudgeon takes over and you actually ask the store manager if it's really necessary to rearrange the place every week.

 

For the record, said store manager's reply was  a friendly "well, every two weeks anyway" which was good for a laugh from me. 😁

 

I often do my humanitarian effort helping older (men usually) find things, The canned soup aisle particularly baffles them.b I don't buy the stuff but I can speed read the labels.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

When the only new bottle you can easily open is wine.

[Tri2Cook]

1 hour ago, heidih said:

 

I often do my humanitarian effort helping older (men usually) find things, The canned soup aisle particularly baffles them.b I don't buy the stuff but I can speed read the labels.

The only thing that baffles me is why it can't be where it was when I was there last week. Rearranging things has never once caused me to buy more. If anything, sometimes I get aggravated because I'm in a hurry and it's not where it should be so I saw screw it and leave without it.

[lindag]

I recently bought a battery operated wine cork remover and it is AMAZING!!!

This one.

Edited August 15, 2020 by lindag (log)

[fondue]

...when all your linen tea towels are soft.

[weinoo]

I complain the whole time I'm cooking, even though I secretly enjoy cooking.

[heidih]

4 minutes ago, fondue said:

...when all your linen tea towels are soft.

 

I kept the vintage beautifully printed ones away from hardcore work  they are still stiffish cuz I am a horrible laundry person and did not want to lose the images.. The others  I think the dogs played tug of war - gone....

[heidih]

Just now, weinoo said:

I complain the whole time I'm cooking, even though I secretly enjoy cooking.

 

that is known as curmudgeon - I am so perfect I never complain   - really i do not about cooking

[kayb]

When you sit down midway through prep because your arthritic hip hurts.