Chopping an onion

[karadekoolaid Profile]

I never had any crying problems when I wore contact lenses. I did have some serious chile burn problems, however. It would seem I was totally incapable of not rubbing my eyes at some stage and moaning in agony when the capsaicin became attached to the contact lens.
I was cutting up a kilo of onions for piccalilli last night. I soaked the onions in water for about 30 minutes, prior to cutting, and Lo and Behold, no tears.

[Sakkarin Profile]

I have that chilli problem occasionally, but not my eyes...

[jeral Profile]

I tend to cheat and put them through the food processor slicer, attachment altiough even the peeling and halving can be enough for tears. It's strange that spring onions seem the worst for me despite their small size.

I can't think why anyone who could avoid an open plan kitchen would actually choose one. Aside from smells and greasy air particles that settle or cling, kitchen equipment is ridiculously noisy.

For garlic cloves, I'd have to wear magnifying loupes like a mad scientist

[Lizzie-47 Profile]

I love my kitchen diner, it's great to chat to friends while you're cooking. The only problem is that you've got witnesses when you accidentally drop the pastry on the floor or set fire to the grill.....

[WWordsworth Profile]

I also have a kitchen diner.
When we bought this house we had an interior wall moved to accommodate the dining area.

We both have memories of our mothers stuck in the kitchen alone.
Didn't appeal.

If we have people round they tend to gravitate to the breakfast bar.
They get moved across the room to the dining table when the meal is ready.

I should probably add that we do not do formal dinner parties.
Friends are simply invited to come and eat with us.
It might be 2 or 3 courses or it might just be a bowl of chilli.

[Binky Profile]

One reason that open plan kitchen/diners don't appeal to me is that cooking always causes a sink-full of dirty pots and pans.

Do you wash these straight away, or do you and the guests/family sit looking at them across the open plan room? You can shut the door on the kitchen mess with a separate dining room.

[WWordsworth Profile]

Because we are all together, basic washing up takes place in the presence of our pals, while conversation and gaiety continues.
As I mentioned earlier, we are pretty informal so nobody gets upset.
Guests sometimes help, although I would never ask them to.

[Binky Profile]

We don't often entertain these days, apart from visiting family and they have to muck in.

When we do have friends round, we usually prepare something that can be heated/prepared in advance (like a moussaka or lasagne). Salads, starters and dessert are always made in advance. That way, you can all enjoy conversation and jollity while the main course sits in the oven (with kitchen door firmly closed!)

[patpoyntz Profile]

Although we have a small galley type kitchen...which I like because it’s only big enough for me...it opens out at one end where we have a table and chairs. Family and friends informal meals for 7 or less are eaten there, otherwise it’s the grown-up dining room, in which case I miss half of the chatter! I always make sure the dishwasher is empty before we start so the dishes can go straight in, dishes which don’t go in there or need soaking go into the utility room, so we manage to keep quite tidy. We have our family nearby and they often come over, and as we are in a small village a long way from restaurants or pubs, we do a lot of entertaining in each other’s houses, always informal and fun.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I put most things into the dish washer as I finish with them, and if there are things that don’t go into the machine they get washed or stacked
Or that’s the theory, my current kitchen is so small it’s very hard to keep tidy as I go along

While I don’t want the sitting room to be located so that I can see the washing up while sitting, it takes me a long time to do stuff, and I get fed up that the kitchen is just a workshop in which I stand and work - I’d like somewhere that’s more a pleasant space that feels lived in

Living alone in London, a separate dining room would probably be prohibitively expensive and I wouldn’t specially want to go and shut myself alone into a room on my own just to eat.

Currently my dining table is in the sitting room, and a good compromise given the size and layout of local properties might be a breakfast kitchen with a small table at which I might eat when alone, and a sitting/dining room with the big dining table in it

[dennispc Profile]

We’ve a front room, two doors, one to the kitchen, the other to the hall. The kitchen has a door to the hall as well. Most neighbours have blocked off the door from front room to kitchen. We haven’t, OH likes to cook with the door open so she’s not cut off from whoever is in the front room. I prefer cooking alone.

The kitchen has a dining table, only pulled out when company comes and that’s mostly family now. Fills most of the space - but like all families we cope.

I’m sure our house smells of food, nice when it’s bread, but it doesn’t bother us.

We’ve a dish washer, bought a small one as there’s only two of us. Big mistake, as saucepans are the same size! Visitors usually help, though back in the day, when we had quite large parties, we forbade any help. Preferred to do it ourselves, allowing us time to wind down and chat.