The most pressure you've felt in the kitchen

hullaballoo

I once made wild mushroom soup for a mycologist. :eek:

She was French as well.

I don't think I've ever been as stressed cooking in my life!

Dizzyblonde

I think the only time I feel really stressed in the kitchen is on Christmas Day.

Miaireland

Anytime I am in the kitchen cooking and my father comes in. He starts prodding and poking at things. Messing with the dials or opening the door of the oven when you are trying to bake soufflés or things like that.

The Hill Billy

Many years ago Grandad Billy asked me to 'help out in the kitchen' at an event he was running for 30 guys over a weekend. When we got there I found out that I was doing all the cooking by myself for the entire weekend. Breakfast served at 7am, elevenses, hot lunch at 1pm, dinner (with dessert) at 6pm, then tea/coffee & biccies at 9pm.

I was going flat out prepping, cooking & cleaning from 5am to 11pm Fri to Sun with only a lazy-as-hell retired Garda Superintendent (who had clearly never washed a dish in his life) to help me - guess what? - wash dishes.

The pressure was immense. While I could cook ok - I had no experience cooking on that scale or in a professional kitchen.

Nobody died.

Shenshen

Making 25 portions of black bean burritos, with guacamole and tomato salsa for charity lunch.
I don't have a professional kitchen, and at the time I didn't have one pot that would fit all of it, so had my 3 largest pots on the go making the black bean stew, while cooking 2 batches of rice (and 1 batch of cauliflower rice) and de-seeding and chopping well over 1kg of cherry tomatoes (yes, I could have gone for regular sized tomatoes, but I haven't yet found any in Ireland that actually taste of anything).

Turned out quite tasty altogether, though

L1011

Christmas dinner for 9, 2 vegetarians with a single cavity oven and 4 hobs. Had the turkey cooked elsewhere and brought to me but still nearly lost a finger on the veg.

Partner was dishwasher loader, pan scrubber and compost bin emptier but that's all I let him do as two cooking on that small a setup would be torture

Gloomtastic!

I cooked once for my former-BIL who is a professional chef - slow roasted pork belly I seem to remember. He said the vegetables were good! :rolleyes:

When I first started cooking properly for friends/family 20-odd years ago I used to be nearly sick with the pressure of getting it right and never enjoyed eating at all. Not any more, thank goodness,

When time is against you is when I feel the most pressure nowadays. Could be a weekday driving the kids from a to b and having to get a dinner sorted in between. Then the kids tell you they ate at their friend's house! :mad:

boodlesdoodles

The day after my father died the family started gathering at home and as I like to cook I said I'd do a fry for the breakfast. That started my day of 13 hours in the kitchen. I only left to go to the bathroom. I ended up cooking for over 30 people, I'm the youngest of a big family so with in-laws and nephews/nieces the numbers were always going to be big. Breakfast to lunch and straight through to dinner. I remember prepping 58 large baked potatoes that day, a leg of lamb and a huge joint of beef.

vicwatson

The Hill Billy wrote: »

Many years ago Grandad Billy asked me to 'help out in the kitchen' at an event he was running for 30 guys over a weekend. When we got there I found out that I was doing all the cooking by myself for the entire weekend. Breakfast served at 7am, elevenses, hot lunch at 1pm, dinner (with dessert) at 6pm, then tea/coffee & biccies at 9pm.

I was going flat out prepping, cooking & cleaning from 5am to 11pm Fri to Sun with only a lazy-as-hell retired Garda Superintendent (who had clearly never washed a dish in his life) to help me - guess what? - wash dishes.

The pressure was immense. While I could cook ok - I had no experience cooking on that scale or in a professional kitchen.

Nobody died.

Ah now, I'd say they did eventually

vicwatson

When the outlaws come around, OMG, the Father in law such a fussy fuss, pressure is not the word for it.

atticu

The old man eats dinner at 7pm every evening.

My mother was in hospital and we were visiting.
He wanted roast leg of lamb for dinner.
It was like ready steady cook, with me providing the countdown.

Dinner was less than a minute late.