Getting stressed by people in your kitchen when you're trying to cook. c/d?

I think I inherited this from my mother who really couldn't stand having anyone else in the kitchen when she was cooking. I'm not quite that bad but I do feel tremendous pressure if I've got people hanging out in there. Does this make me a bit of an asshole?

no i think that's pretty common. i actually feel stress if i'm in the kitchen while someone is cooking and they do something that i would not--hard but necessary to keep my gd mouth shut

If it does, then I'm one too.

It really doesn't help that our place is an open plan, so the whole kitchen is exposed. We're having a party tonight and I'm trying to get EVERYTHING done prior to anyone showing up.

it used to drive me nuts but I've been cooking so long now that it doesn't bother me any more. maybe a little if I'm working on something that's new.

I have a titchy kitchen so it does feel v. crowded but I still feel like I should just not take it so seriously - it's not like I'm Gordon Ramsey.

I kind of enjoy it.

Do this myself; find it annoying and precious in other people sometimes; trying to moderate behaviour i. so as to appreciate other ppl can be bothered and know when to leave them alone ii. find it less annoying myself

Ironically (I think it's ironic anyway) I am currently being hassled by my daughter to take the banana bread out of the oven for fear that it is burning.

Banana bread! I didn't know anyone else cooked that.
Anyway, my rule in the kitchen is "help out or get out".

Oh yes!
And my daughter was right - it was just starting to burn.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2670/4179504846_5df4101052_m.jpg
Terrible photo makes it look flat...

Ah it's just the top bit that's caught - adds flavour anyway.

My mother cooks it in a loaf tin and eats it sliced and buttered.

I'm not stressed by other people prepping/cooking in the same space; I am by people who want to watch and talk.

i only get stressed when it seems like they're ~paying attn~ to what i'm doing (and if i'm not totally sure of how things are goin). also my current kitchen is v small and having someone else around means that they are in the way, and i like to be v robotic and physical when i cook so the extra body cramps my style

i live alone so i don't have this problem, but i can not imagine a 2nd person in my kitchen!

i do get stressed, and have gotten into fights with my father over his lingering around the kitchen and offering 'tips' and sampling ingredients. he's so 'helpful' that last year he told my mother it looked like it was not a bouillabaisse that she was cooking but a simpler fish stew, causing so much tension that my sister made a mix cd of empowering songs for her titled 'boo-ya bass'. uh... long story short, he's asked me to cook while i'm home (and even requested cioppino) and i fear we might need a 'choppin yo head' mix or something.

i only get stressed when my wife comes in the kitchen and starts the only-trying-to-help questions & "suggestions"

mc: "imagine if I came in while you were making cookies and started offering little tips: 'could you put in more raisins and less chocolate? what's that? mashed banannas?'"

sr: "that would be annoying. but it's different because you don't know anything about baking."

when we have guests over though I welcome people in the kitchen. like tonight: we'll drink martinis while the pork loin roasts and I make salad and rice pilaf.

I kinda like it if someone's hanging out at the table, solving the crossword or knitting or bs-ing and drinking. It's nice to have someone to chat with if you're standing over the stove for half an hour or more & just stirring something. OTOH if I am making a big dinner & doing four things at once and someone wants to chat I'm probably gonna ask them to let me be for the moment. I've never had anyone try to nitpick or offer tips or rubberneck; I think that'd get my hackles up.

lol @ "boo-ya bass" and "choppin yo head" =D

If anyone tried to join in in my ktchen they'd probably get elbowed in the guts because my kitchen is TINY (grrr I hate it so).

yeah tehresa my dad does that too! he is a great cook so he's usually right, which is the annoying part, but sometimes i just want to be left alone to do things wrong like an independent adult! he's like "why do you and your mom always get mad at me when i try to help out in the kitchen?" and i have explained it to him exactly that way: "it's not about the food being perfect, dad, it's about our pride as competent adults!"

this is never a problem with my roommates though, except once in a while if i'm cooking early on a friday or saturday night and one of my roommates wants to say her sabbath prayers with candles right on the counter i am using. that is a legitimate use of the kitchen, though, it's just a scramble sometimes.

The worst time for this is Thanksgiving, when we are trying to get a dozen dishes ready simultaneously. For some reason every family member has to stand around in the kitchen and chat as soon as he/she arrives. It's less stressful now that we have a bigger kitchen ... it also helps to be hyper-organized about doing everything possible before anyone shows up.

i much rather having someone with me while i'm cooking. i don't care if they're offering tips or advice, as that'll be ignored as a matter of course anyway.

doing everything possible before anyone shows up.

This is my coping strategy. "No, it's alright - it's all done - just needs to go in the oven!"

Which is when I realise I haven't turned the oven on.

whereas my roommates are happy to leave me alone to cook in the kitchen, but when i say "hey guys dinner's ready!" half the time one of them comes in, looks around, and says "dude, should the oven still be on?" i'm becoming very conscious of it because what if someday....i cook and they're not home?