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Post by daylilydude on Jan 10, 2021 4:53:44 GMT -5
I always hate buying food then always need to struggle to finish off the last few bites, anyone with me on it? I know the common sense thing is to put it in the fridge but...
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Post by spike on Jan 10, 2021 9:18:11 GMT -5
Never really a problem here. We have 3 very large, 4 footed, furry garbage disposals that are always on the alert . . .
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Post by september on Jan 10, 2021 11:46:40 GMT -5
I grew up with the clean plate club theory, that it's disrespectful to throw away food. I still often make myself eat everything I take, even though it might be better for my belly fat if I tossed it in the trash. Or take less to start with. And I save little dabs of leftover, some of which moulder in the fridge eventually. But some of them get eaten for a quick lunch or snack. Thank goodness for microwaves. I've taken to putting a piece of masking tape with the date on anything I store in a plastic container. Who can remember how old some of the stuff pushed to the back gets?
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Post by paulf on Jan 10, 2021 11:53:17 GMT -5
Left overs are a major part of our menu. We get about three meals out of every one cooked. In the beginning of our marriage my wife wanted nothing to do with that new fangled kitchen gadget called a microwave. I bought one anyway. And that is the rest of the story...best purchase I can think of for dollars spent per years use. We are on only our third microwave in nearly fifty years and two of them were built-ins and stayed in houses we moved from. Never had one go bad and the prices have gone way down since the first one.
The three dogs we have had over the years stood at attention whenever we prepared or ate a meal. Now our kids' dogs do the same whenever they visit.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jan 10, 2021 12:32:02 GMT -5
I almost always make way more than I'm going to eat at the time, except for an omelette, or something like that. I waste almost nothing, since I cook for myself, and have very little that I make that I don't like! And I keep some to eat as leftovers for a few days, I freeze a lot of it, when I make very large quantities. Once in a blue moon something will get lost in the fridge, but I have it organized (though others that look would never believe this!) so that perishables are only in a couple of areas - everything else is a bunch of . ingredients, that don't really go bad in the fridge. I have one spot in my fridge I put the leftovers, so if that's empty, I don't have any leftovers!
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Post by brownrexx on Jan 10, 2021 14:27:32 GMT -5
I am very organized with cooking and only make enough for 1 or 2 meals. We usually don't have left overs but if there is something that we didn't finish and don't want to keep - well, we have chickens.
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Post by paquebot on Jan 10, 2021 15:34:51 GMT -5
It it's on the plate it's eaten! If still in the pot, there are dozens of plastic containers of various sizes for fridge. Wife gets home anywhere between 6:30 and 8:00 and often that;s her breakfast before going to bed. There are also some dishes that are intentionally doubled. Leftover is to be frozen.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jan 11, 2021 9:36:26 GMT -5
I know what you mean, september, about growing up under the "clean your plate" rule. I literally have to make myself leave food on a plate at home. (Restaurant portions are so large that I can leave them without guilt, especially if I am taking leftovers home.) So for me, the discipline has to occur when deciding how much to put on my plate. Once it's on my plate I almost certainly will eat it, unless I am stuffed to the point of feeling physically bad. Because of this, I don't make my kids clean their plates. I DO require that they finish the meat and veggies - but not the starch - if they intend to get dessert or a snack later. If they were "not hungry" for their dinner they don't get sweets or junk later! But decades of cooking for a big family - combined with feeding two fewer people since my oldest two moved out - means we have more leftovers lately. I am trying to adjust my portions when cooking and meal planning, but I am not there yet. I am the major consumer of leftovers in our family. There are only a few things the kids will eat leftover. (I imagine they will get less picky when they are paying for their own food.) Though since my 15 year old took culinary class last semester, he occasionally re-purposes leftovers that previously he wouldn't touch. So that is cool. For decades I have often had leftovers for lunch, which I call "SAHM Surprise" a.k.a. "Stay At Home Mom Surprise." Since he has been working from home DH actually eats leftovers with me at lunchtime a couple of times a week (otherwise he usually makes a sandwich), so despite the extra leftovers, we are actually keeping up with the leftovers a little better. More importantly, DH is not eating as much fast food as he was when he worked at the office. So that is much better for his health. We also have leftovers for lunch on the weekends, and sometimes Sunday night as well. (I mostly cook on weeknights.) It would be nice if I could say that I remember to date leftover containers. But that would be a lie! So I have developed a habit of clearing out the leftovers when I go on my weekly grocery shopping trip. Everything goes unless I know exactly what it is, how fresh it is, and I have a plan to use it. That last part is crucial, because unless I have a plan for an it, it will just get buried by the new leftovers I make that week. Then I will have to pitch it next week after it's become gross. The one exception to our negligence in dating leftovers is lunchmeat. We always remember to write on packs of lunchmeat the date we opened them. This stems from one bad eating experience and a couple of times when we were getting ready to make kids' school lunches and realized that the lunchmeat had gone off. EDIT: moved the part about the NetFlix show to a follow-up post; this was already a wall of text!
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jan 11, 2021 10:05:21 GMT -5
Oh - for those of you with NetFlix, they have a new show called "The Best Leftovers." It's a cooking competition where cooks (mostly home cooks, though some folks with culinary training have competed) compete to re-use leftovers in the most creative ways. The contestants have access to a stocked pantry and fridge for additional ingredients, so they usually transform things to an entirely new cuisine. It's pretty fun to watch if you like cooking competition shows. And some of the ways they use leftovers are really creative.
I am not that creative with leftovers. 99% of the time I re-heat them as-is. My creativity pretty much ends at, "make chicken salad with leftover cooked chicken" and "crumble up leftover burger patties and reheat with taco seasonings for taco meat."
Oh, and when I was eating lots of carbs, I used to turn leftover cooked rice into Mom's rice pudding - the southern kind, a solid custard full of rice and raisins with lots of cinnamon. Which is really only a pudding in the British sense (a dessert) rather than the American one (a creamy soft dessert).
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Post by octave1 on Jan 11, 2021 18:04:13 GMT -5
I deliberately cook larger meals so we can have leftovers. Most leftovers get eaten in 1-2 days, larger amounts (like Thanksgiving turkey) may be frozen but that does not happen often, because we don't love frozen foods. We hardly ever throw out food, but if something goes bad before we finish it, it will go straight into the compost.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jan 11, 2021 18:25:38 GMT -5
It's taking me longer these days to finish off leftovers, with this pandemic, since I used to have friends come over and head straight to the fridge, to see what was there! Now I usually have to finish it off myself, or freeze it, if it freezes well. Fortunately, I have no problems eating things a few days in a row, like some people do. Some things, like a Thai curry, I can eat at several meals in a row, I love them so much!
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stone
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Post by stone on Jan 14, 2021 8:40:58 GMT -5
With this pandemic still raging, I don't want to go shopping... It's bad enough not knowing how dangerous that commercially produced stuff is, but not knowing whether my next town run will be my last?
I'd as soon cook bulk and eat that until it's gone...
Start with a nice fresh organic rooster from the backyard... or a chunk of Bambi from the freezer... Add to pressure cooker, cook until tender... add garden produce to top of pot... Eat as much as possible while hot... Place entire pot in fridge... Eat what remains until it's gone... or I get tired of it... The cats love my cooking, so no waste. When the pot is empty... Then... The hard part... What to cook when I get hungry... Again!
Luckily, I always have something ready to cook out in the garden...
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Post by ladymarmalade on Jan 14, 2021 19:05:50 GMT -5
Oh - for those of you with NetFlix, they have a new show called " The Best Leftovers." It's a cooking competition where cooks (mostly home cooks, though some folks with culinary training have competed) compete to re-use leftovers in the most creative ways. The contestants have access to a stocked pantry and fridge for additional ingredients, so they usually transform things to an entirely new cuisine. It's pretty fun to watch if you like cooking competition shows. And some of the ways they use leftovers are really creative. I am not that creative with leftovers. 99% of the time I re-heat them as-is. My creativity pretty much ends at, "make chicken salad with leftover cooked chicken" and "crumble up leftover burger patties and reheat with taco seasonings for taco meat." Oh, and when I was eating lots of carbs, I used to turn leftover cooked rice into Mom's rice pudding - the southern kind, a solid custard full of rice and raisins with lots of cinnamon. Which is really only a pudding in the British sense (a dessert) rather than the American one (a creamy soft dessert). Oooh, I'm going to go look for that show. I recently finished the entire series of The Great British Baking Show and have been looking for something to fill that void that is a little different than normal. I feel like I've watched almost everything cooking related at this point, but I haven't seen that one. I could do very well on a show like that, since we hardly ever eat leftovers as-is. I almost always re-purpose them into something else. We dislike eating the same thing twice.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2021 13:13:10 GMT -5
Hot topic here. Wife cooks enough for a battalion. I DO NOT LIKE TO EAT THE SAME MEAL THREE DAYS IN A ROW--- So, we have taken to freezing left overs and hauling them out when we feel an appetite for that particular meal. Wife is an excellent cook, but she seems to be unable to cook for two. Since I do not want to adopt any more children we freeze.
Example---A six pound chicken on the counter thawing---that will be at LEAST two meals, more likely three and some chicken salad. A six pound corned beef---An 18 pound ham---And the woman eats an APPLE for breakfast. LOL, Luckily we have lots of plastic and freezers, and the wife can turn a leftover into a new dish. I found a prize when I met this one.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Mar 6, 2021 16:37:04 GMT -5
Scaling down my cooking is going to be a tough adjustment for me as well, @oxankle2. I still have two boys at home and the older two live locally and come over for dinner sometimes, so I haven't really had to adjust my cooking much yet. But the day will come.
And I still have that Southern attitude about holidays - for the holidays I cook enough for not just a battalion, but the whole dang army. We get sick of leftovers long before they are gone. That habit is going to be really hard to break, because to me it already feels like I don't cook enough on the holidays! That's because I grew up having holidays with the whole extended family. We always had a big crowd (up to 50 people in some years), so every flat surface in Granny's little house would creak under the weight of all of the pots and casseroles and platters of food. It was literally not possible to have even a bite of everything, since there were so many things to choose from.
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alexbur9
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Post by alexbur9 on May 5, 2021 8:39:50 GMT -5
I understand, I used to cook just enough food for one day, but then I realized that it's almost impossible. When I lived alone, I had no problem with it. And now kids want something fresh and new, but we still have food in our fridge. I cook one to two meals a day to avoid this problem.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on May 5, 2021 9:47:19 GMT -5
Kids and leftovers...such an aggravation when there is perfectly good food already cooked but the kids whine. If I were more creative about re-purposing leftovers, the kids wouldn't realize when I was serving leftovers. But usually I end up having the leftovers for lunch. I call leftovers for lunch "SAHM Surprise" (a.k.a. "Stay At Home Mom Surprise"). The "surprise" part is that usually there is more than one kind of leftover available, but I almost never know which one I will choose until I am looking in the fridge.
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reubent
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Post by reubent on May 12, 2021 22:36:11 GMT -5
When I was little my parents lived in a small town, but my mother kept trying to garden, her dad had made a livin growin fresh produce so it was kinda in her system to grow something every year. So she decided and dad went along with the plan to get out on some land where she could do it. But he wasn't into earning high wages and she wanted to stay home, so it took a good share of his earnings to pay the land payments, and we moved into a tent on it. Lived like the old southern country po folk for quite a number of years, one room cabin, no electric, outhouse for a restroom, hand pump on the well, and ate out of the garden mostly. I got one pair of canvas shoes per year in the fall, they lasted till spring, then I went barefoot till fall and by then last years shoes were too small and about worn out anyway. And when we ate, we ate what was on the plate, all of it, and if we didn't it got saved for the next meal. So we learned it was a moral crime to discard the least iota of good food. It still pains me to see people dumping perfectly good food in a trash can just because they didn't feel like eating everything they dished up for themselves. When I was 19 we decided to sell out and move to someplace more isolated. And a year later we found our way to 80 acres of cheap mountain land, where we've been ever since. My parents have grown old and dad passed on at 92 2 years ago. my mother being 9 years younger is still with us but suffers from mental breakdown. So it's just my brother and myself, neither of us married, plus two cousins and a couple friends. And I'm finally going at turning a section of the mountainside that's not too rough and steep into orchard and gardens. I tried all sorts of things and finally decided I like growing good food better than anything else, (and eating it) So it's a full time project. Clearing land, planting fruit trees, and gardens. I could say it's my retirement plan, but I don't plan to ever retire from working the land. What else would I do? Not the type to be content to sit around and do nothing.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on May 13, 2021 0:01:56 GMT -5
Kids and leftovers...such an aggravation when there is perfectly good food already cooked but the kids whine. If I were more creative about re-purposing leftovers, the kids wouldn't realize when I was serving leftovers. But usually I end up having the leftovers for lunch. I call leftovers for lunch "SAHM Surprise" (a.k.a. "Stay At Home Mom Surprise"). The "surprise" part is that usually there is more than one kind of leftover available, but I almost never know which one I will choose until I am looking in the fridge. I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan of left overs. You’re holiday meals remind me of growing up with that many people to cook for. Mom started cooking days before the holiday meals as she is the one that hosted most of the meals. One of my favorite memories....It was a Christmas Eve...I’m pretty young...Mom is busy in the kitchen...I woke up because I could “smell” food being cooked. I went into the kitchen and got a drink of water and asked if I could sleep on the couch. She went and got me a pillow and blanket and tucked me in....I drifted off to sleep to the smells from the kitchen and wondering what Santa would bring.
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Post by brownrexx on May 13, 2021 6:33:41 GMT -5
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tallpines
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Post by tallpines on May 13, 2021 8:05:56 GMT -5
Cooking is one of the most thankless jobs in the house ..... (It Would be much more tolerable if there was a ful-time clean up person!)
My five children were all teenagers at the same time! And .... all grew to between 6 and 7 feet TALL! (Including 3 daughters) It took a bunch of groceries to grow children to that size! Plus DH was a hard working farmer putting in 16 hour days.... and liked to EAT!
Kids are all moved out but ..... they still check out the fridge when they stop by .... plus they have added 16 more hungry mouths ! So ..... when I cook ..... left overs are expected.
Chili, lasagna, pasta salads ..... there are never enough left-overs!
Cookies, cakes, deserts ..... most never even cool down before they disappear.
Seems I can never catch up ....
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Post by september on May 13, 2021 8:31:37 GMT -5
Truer words were never said! I'd love to see all those who complain about eating leftovers get stuck with doing all the cooking and clean up for every meal, every day, every week, every month, every year for years and years on end! This is why I hate cooking. Yes, I have a dish washer, and yes, my husband will help if I ask him, but standing over someone telling them what to do is worse than just getting on with it myself. He has been unloading the dishwasher for years, and still does not know there are two separate drawers for small vs big utensils, and a special cupboard spot for glass containers with lids. I'm always surprised when I find something shelved in a new spot. He is the most good natured person I know, and after 40+ years there is no point in fussing about it. We eat leftovers alot. In fact, I count on eating the same thing the next night whenever possible, I make a lot of casseroles. He is just happy to get fed and praises my cooking, even when I don't think it's that great. Wonderful husband!
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Post by brownrexx on May 13, 2021 8:53:38 GMT -5
september , I also have a wonderful husband who constantly compliments my cooking and never complains about what is served. He credits me for him still being alive. He had very poor eating habits before I met him and most of his family died young but he turned 70 two years ago and feels that his healthy eating habits for the last 40 years that we have been together are the reason for that. Interestingly he never seems to know where certain things are located in the cabinets even though we have lived in this house for 21 years! He is one of those "open the cabinet or refrigerator and shove it in" kind of people. Last night I found my olive oil bottle in the refrigerator instead of the cabinet. At least he clears the table so I am not complaining. Dad never even did that. He just left the table and it was up to me and Mom to clean up.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on May 13, 2021 9:47:31 GMT -5
Talking about organization. I’m not that organized in general life, but the kitchen is a different story. Everything has to be where it’s supposed to be or cooking is an irritating job! I started watching Justin Wilson cook when I in my 20’s. I wouldn’t say he was a spectacular cook, but he was sure organized. If you watch him closely, he uses salt/spices etc. and puts them it right back in in there place. Nothing like stirring a pot and having to look for something. Gravy is a prime example. You’d better have your ducks in a row when making a pan of gravy.
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Post by pepperhead212 on May 13, 2021 12:12:51 GMT -5
I didn't used to be as organized as I am now, but I guess I relied on my memory to find what I needed, but as I accumulated many more things, plus got older(!), I had to do something to organize better. Started with my freezer, and over a few weeks, about 3 years ago, I took everything out, shelf by shelf, and inventoried it. Amazingly, I only tossed a few things, as the meats were all vacuum sealed (a few the seal broke on, that were really old were the bad ones). I highlighted the ones to use soon! Then, I did the same with a bunch of things in my pantry, some of which were in 3 trash cans, some in a couple of tubs. Imagine having to dig down to the bottom of a 32 gal trash can, to hopefully find your stash?! Now, I have just one of those cans, about 2/3 full, of sugar on the bottom (which I hardly use anymore, except in cookie season), and other, vacuum sealed larger bags of things. I have all the rest in 5 large storage tubs, and two 12 gal ones, one with all chocolate, and one all cocoa products! These chocolates, grains, and legumes keep well vacuum sealed, and they were scattered around before, but now I have them organized, and inventoried, like the items in the freezer. And in my kitchen I have a shelf of many glass jars of grains and legumes, and a few peppers, and some flours, of some of these things that I make up a little at a time. When I get deals on some of these things, I'll vacuum seal them 2, 3, or 4 cups at a time, and store them in the pantry, and when needed, get one of the bags, and refill the jars - only about 3/4" is cut off, and the Foodsaver bags can be rinsed out, and used again. Only thing I don't do this with is meat. I also had to do some organizing with those countless spices I have, to make Indian food! So I labeled 4 boxes - I have one small box of just spice mixes, one box of "most used spices", another of less used, and another of larger jars, of things like coriander and cumin, for filling up the smaller jars, or making the spice mixes. An Indian lady I know told me that I have more spices than any family she knew in India! lol I told her it is because they were only cooking their variety - I am trying all of them. I never have inventoried all of my chile peppers yet. I'm sure there's something there I've forgotten...
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Post by Laura_in_FL on May 14, 2021 8:43:39 GMT -5
If it were just me and DH, my kitchen would be organized to an almost OCD level. Like hairymooseknuckles said, I hate having to search for an ingredient or utensil - or worse, have to clear a spot just to work in - when I am cooking or getting ready to cook! I want to know exactly where everything is and have it stored so I can easily see how much I have. (That saves so much time when making grocery lists, too!) While I am cooking I put ingredients away as soon as I am done with them whenever possible, and dirty dishes I won't need again go into the sink. When doing massive amounts of cooking, such as for holidays, I make sure the dishwasher is empty and load it as I go. Cookware and bake ware also go in the dishwasher just as soon as they are cool enough to not damage the dishwasher racks. If it gets full, I start it right away. (For epic holiday cooking sessions I will have to unload and reload the dishwasher multiple times in a day!) I also keep a sink of hot soapy water so I can wash dishes and utensils that I will need again as I go. Then when I am done cooking I won't be exhausted and faced with a nightmare mess in the kitchen. (I should do this for everyday cooking, but I confess that I don't.) The hardest part about loading the dishwasher as I thinking things through, so I don't load something I will need again into the dishwasher. It's no fun to stop the dishwasher mid-cycle to retrieve and hand wash an item. The kids are much more "shove it in anywhere" types so keeping things organized is a challenge, and the kitchen looks like a bomb went off after they cook. If I can at least get them to promptly put up ingredients that need to be stored in the fridge or freezer, that's a victory. Everything else will be strewn about. I don't even understand how they manage to get salt, pepper, herbs, and spices ALL OVER the ENTIRE stovetop when adding them to a dish that's cooking. And though I have tried mightily to teach them, none of them can stir without spattering everywhere. There might be some hope for son #3 because of his culinary classes, though. Though I have to say things aren't as bad on the mess and mayhem score since son #2 moved out. He has always been a tornado of disorder, ever since learned to crawl. He is a total sweetheart, but organization is not one of his strengths!
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tallpines
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Post by tallpines on May 14, 2021 10:06:14 GMT -5
My problem person is the HUSBAND!
When his fingers get sticky, he does not clean them ..... but continues touching and spreading the stickyness to EVERYTHING! Cabinet handles and 4 inches around each handle are discolored and ALWAYS sticky. Refrigerator and microwave included.
He will wash kettles but he does not wash the outside ..... after a kettle sets in a sink of greasy water ..... the outside gets greasy! He CANNOT learn .... pots and pans in this cupboard! Bowls in this drawer!
He cannot seem to work OVER A CABINET. He works at the VERY EDGE of the counter top. Crumbs and dirt are not easy to clean up because most of them have fallen on the floor. Drawers under a cabinet are left open a couple of inches. Each drawer collects crumbs and dirt that have fallen from the cabinet.
That dirt on the floor gets tracked all over the house.
He eats up ingredients that were purchased for something special without asking.
He keeps a satche of frozen pizzas in his man room which has a pizza oven. I can be working on a special meal, and he will cook himself a pizza! 🤬😦
He does not pay attention to how the dishwasher gets stacked. After washing, food particles will dry inside cups, glasses, canning jars. He still puts them away with the food dried inside. Truly gross to finish a beverage and see yesterday’s food particles still stuck inside 🤢.
I try to stay ahead of him ..... but I can’t keep up. He ignores my attempts to teach him. He’s always got an excuse! (Gets very condescending)
Same thing with wiping his feet, or removing shoes to help keep the floor clean ..... and his shoes are always dirty, muddy.
To those of you who refer to your spouse as a “peach” or a “gem” ....... appreciate them! Not all of us are so lucky.
(Not a happy camper) (Wound not do it again)
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on May 14, 2021 12:59:58 GMT -5
tallpines, That was funny!!! I’ve known old bachelors that were set in their ways. One feller I knew rolled his own cigarettes. After he finished his smoke, he’d throw it on the floor and used his boot to smash it out. I always thought that was the funniest thing I ever saw.
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tallpines
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Post by tallpines on May 14, 2021 13:31:08 GMT -5
tallpines , That was funny!!! I’ve known old bachelors that were set in their ways. One feller I knew rolled his own cigarettes. After he finished his smoke, he’d throw it on the floor and used his boot to smash it out. I always thought that was the funniest thing I ever saw. DH tells about an old bachelor friend who always kept a long link of sausage tied on a door knob ..... and a bottle of “spirits” on his table. Never, ever used any utensils for serving his guests. He’d pass around the bottle for all to take a “swig” ...... and invite them to “help yourself” to a bite of the “horse’s c-ck”.
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Post by september on May 14, 2021 15:30:16 GMT -5
tallpines , I think we might be married to brothers?!? The sticky jam fingers come to mind. He always washes his hands after eating, but if he has to get stuff out of the fridge or cupboard during the meal, there is no wiping involved first. He makes toaster waffles with syrup drips and whole blueberries roll to the floor and are stomped on. He also eats with the edge of his plate pulled out from the table, so drippy stuff will find it's way onto his shirt , lap or down to the floor. Even a bowl of cold cereal with milk leaves sticky sugar milk drips on the counter. He grew up on a farm with three sisters, I know he never had to help in the kitchen with "woman's work" and his mother would not have explained even basics to him. This is not an old age thing, been that way all his life. It's a good thing that I am not a neatnik or germiphobe myself. I have a habit of making up nonsense songs when I see something wrong, so he asks "What did I do now?" We just laugh about it, and I would not trade him for anything. I have plenty of faults that he puts up with.
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