Pet Peeves: Aka Things That Make You Go "Gah!"

[peacheslatour]

Arrggghhhh! Cooking pet peeve, I made a big pot of chili today and I'm chopping onions. Those papery brown outer layers on onions! They stick to EVERYTHING. The knife, the cutting board, my fingers, everything. We hates them, Precious.

[theredhead77]

4 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Arrggghhhh! Cooking pet peeve, I made a big pot of chili today and I'm chopping onions. Those papery brown outer layers on onions! They stick to EVERYTHING. The knife, the cutting board, my fingers, everything. We hates them, Precious.

That and the garlic paper! I hatez them! I actually bought a unitasker tool for peeling garlic (I know the shake the paper loose trick but it never works for me). I wish they would make one for onions.

[Mondrianyone]

39 minutes ago, GussieK said:

I’ve lit two large citronella candles , and they seem to be helping.  I had never used them before. The info gods of the internet declare them relatively ineffective, but I’m finding them helpful. Any opinions?

I just bought a set of four tiki torches (they're more stainless steel than tiki, but the same principle), and they work off a reservoir of citronella oil. My opinion so far is that they do make a difference. Mosquito population here has been blessedly low because the weather's been gray and rainy and windy, and today it's cold. But if there's still any real summer left, maybe we'll have a better basis to judge. The Internet gods have been known to be wrong.

Just now, theredhead77 said:

I actually bought a unitasker tool for peeling garlic

I love that thing! And Mr. Mo, who never has anything nice to say about kitchen gadgets I buy (till he actually finds one useful), says that the person who invented the silicone garlic peeler should be nominated for a Nobel Prize.

[EtheltoTillie]

Okay, I'm ordering the garlic peeler.  I've always wanted to try it.  In honor of my late mom, the real GussieK.  She and I loved to shop for gadgets together. 

[MargeGunderson]

15 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Arrggghhhh! Cooking pet peeve, I made a big pot of chili today and I'm chopping onions. Those papery brown outer layers on onions! They stick to EVERYTHING. The knife, the cutting board, my fingers, everything. We hates them, Precious.

I am not above buying chopped onions at my local market. I hate chopping onions. 

[peacheslatour]

2 minutes ago, MargeGunderson said:

I am not above buying chopped onions at my local market. I hate chopping onions. 

But the Walla Walla sweets are so good right now.

[MargeGunderson]

1 minute ago, peacheslatour said:

But the Walla Walla sweets are so good right now.

I do make an exception for sweet onions. They are too good to pass up! But a basic yellow or white onion? Pre-chopped, baby!

[theredhead77]

8 minutes ago, GussieK said:

Okay, I'm ordering the garlic peeler.  I've always wanted to try it.  In honor of my late mom, the real GussieK.  She and I loved to shop for gadgets together. 

  

10 minutes ago, Mondrianyone said:

I love that thing! And Mr. Mo, who never has anything nice to say about kitchen gadgets I buy (till he actually finds one useful), says that the person who invented the silicone garlic peeler should be nominated for a Nobel Prize.

 

Can I interest you in this garlic microplane? It's a game changer. I stopped mincing garlic years ago and was using a cheese grater. I will never not have one of microplanes in my kitchen.

Edited August 30, 2021 by theredhead77

[Mondrianyone]

You have to get up pretty early in the morning to tempt me with a garlic gadget I don't already own. I have a version of that one, and if I'm not too lazy tomorrow I'll line up all the others I have and provide photographic evidence. I'm a lefty--horrible knife skills.

But I agree--it's great! (Grate?)

[EtheltoTillie]

19 minutes ago, theredhead77 said:

  

 

Can I interest you in this garlic microplane? It's a game changer. I stopped mincing garlic years ago and was using a cheese grater. I will never not have one of microplanes in my kitchen.

I also use the cheese grater. Hmm. I am tempted by this also. I really would like to slice garlic thin with a razor blade like they do in Goodfellas. 

[Mondrianyone]

Just now, GussieK said:

I really would like to slice garlic thin with a razor blade like they do in Goodfellas. 

I have one that slices, too. It's a sickness.

[EtheltoTillie]

Onions peeled under water. That’s a good idea. I already do it for hard boiled eggs. 

[theredhead77]

12 minutes ago, GussieK said:

I also use the cheese grater. Hmm. I am tempted by this also. I really would like to slice garlic thin with a razor blade like they do in Goodfellas. 

I think the second blade can do that. 

[theredhead77]

54 minutes ago, Mondrianyone said:

You have to get up pretty early in the morning to tempt me with a garlic gadget I don't already own. I have a version of that one, and if I'm not too lazy tomorrow I'll line up all the others I have and provide photographic evidence. I'm a lefty--horrible knife skills.

But I agree--it's great! (Grate?)

Please! And link them (maybe in Chit-Chat?). My shopping habits are shoes, hoodies/jackets and kitchen gadgets. 

[RealHousewife]

I hate the lack of privacy at laser clinics, dermatologist and plastic surgeon offices, etc.

If I'm getting laser hair removal on my lady bits, does everyone in the waiting area really have to hear about it? I wish scheduling and payments could be handled more discretely. 

[MargeGunderson]

49 minutes ago, theredhead77 said:

Please! And link them (maybe in Chit-Chat?). My shopping habits are shoes, hoodies/jackets and kitchen gadgets. 

There’s a thread for kitchen gadgets!

[theredhead77]

4 minutes ago, MargeGunderson said:

There’s a thread for kitchen gadgets!

I did not need to know that

[ebk57]

13 minutes ago, RealHousewife said:

I hate the lack of privacy at laser clinics, dermatologist and plastic surgeon offices, etc.

If I'm getting laser hair removal on my lady bits, does everyone in the waiting area really have to hear about it? I wish scheduling and payments could be handled more discretely. 

Which reminds me of a time back in the stone age (sometime in the 80s) when I dropped off my prescription for birth control pills at the pharmacy counter and went over to the side of the store to wait.  The pharmacy clerk then yells after me "did you want 1 month or 3?"  And everyone looked over, so I yelled back "3 - thanks."  

Seriously??

[Stats Queen]

On 8/26/2021 at 5:29 PM, MargeGunderson said:

Oh, I should have specified that they only barf on the floor if it’s been newly washed. Otherwise, they are going to barf on the 20% of the house that has carpet. 

And on a new spot where they hadn’t barfed before.

[chocolatine]

4 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Arrggghhhh! Cooking pet peeve, I made a big pot of chili today and I'm chopping onions. Those papery brown outer layers on onions! They stick to EVERYTHING. The knife, the cutting board, my fingers, everything. We hates them, Precious.

I find running some water on the blade of the knife before peeling/chopping helps with the sticking. I've never tried peeling the onion directly under running water though, so maybe that works even better.

[Anela]

I cooked three different things this evening - things that seemed basic, and easy, but I hate being stuck in the kitchen, and I hate it even more when I'm overheating and tired. I end up being reminded of how much I can hate cooking. 

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, Anela said:

I cooked three different things this evening - things that seemed basic, and easy, but I hate being stuck in the kitchen, and I hate it even more when I'm overheating and tired. I end up being reminded of how much I can hate cooking. 

Sometimes cheese and crackers--and maybe some fruit--is enough.

[EtheltoTillie]

13 hours ago, Mondrianyone said:

You have to get up pretty early in the morning to tempt me with a garlic gadget I don't already own. I have a version of that one, and if I'm not too lazy tomorrow I'll line up all the others I have and provide photographic evidence. I'm a lefty--horrible knife skills.

But I agree--it's great! (Grate?)

More on garlic. Taking it to gadgets. 

[peacheslatour]

5 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Sometimes cheese and crackers--and maybe some fruit--is enough.

If my Mr. would let me get away with it, we'd have that six nights a week.

[KittyMom4]

17 hours ago, RealHousewife said:

I hate the lack of privacy at laser clinics, dermatologist and plastic surgeon offices, etc.

If I'm getting laser hair removal on my lady bits, does everyone in the waiting area really have to hear about it? I wish scheduling and payments could be handled more discretely. 

My laser spa (chin, pits and lady bits) has pretty discreet check in/out area BUT where I used to get waxed had a big sign that said  "check in on FB, tag us on Insta, make sure you review us on google!" and I was like, who the hell is gonna announce to their family, friends and coworkers that they just got their cooch waxed????

17 hours ago, ebk57 said:

Which reminds me of a time back in the stone age (sometime in the 80s) when I dropped off my prescription for birth control pills at the pharmacy counter and went over to the side of the store to wait.  The pharmacy clerk then yells after me "did you want 1 month or 3?"  And everyone looked over, so I yelled back "3 - thanks."  

Seriously??

omg, this is a huge pet peeve mine, store pharmacies are not private! When covid exploded they put plexiglass up and put a red tape line on the floor so you stood 6 feet back from the counter. I had to shout through a mask, through plexiglass from 6 feet away to confirm my birth day & month as well as my address, everyone in the vicinity of the Rx now knows where I live and when I was born. 

[Mondrianyone]

12 minutes ago, BexKeps said:

everyone in the vicinity of the Rx now knows where I live and when I was born. 

Look on the bright side. Now they all know when and where to send you birthday presents!

But seriously, maybe the pharmacists could learn to be discreet if when we handed them our Rx we also said, "If you shout out any of my details, I will hit you with a HIPAA violation so hard your lab coat will spin." I can't express how much I hate when that happens.

[theredhead77]

Here are all my current peeves

Also: where is my hoverboard and teleporter? And money tree?

 

[peacheslatour]

24 minutes ago, theredhead77 said:

Here are all my current peeves

Also: where is my hoverboard and teleporter? And money tree?

 

Where is my self cleaning house?

[TattleTeeny]

Ugh, the spam calls are on a tear today, man — all from South Dakota and all pretending to be Amazon. And apparently spoofing regular people’s phone numbers. I called one back just to see what would happen and got a perfectly nice man who apologized and said that maybe his phone accidentally dialed me from his pocket! The poor innocent thing; I’m glad I didn’t yell at him or anything!

Edited August 31, 2021 by TattleTeeny

[theredhead77]

1 hour ago, TattleTeeny said:

Ugh, the spam calls are on a tear today, man — all from South Dakota and all pretending to be Amazon. And apparently spoofing regular people’s phone numbers. I called one back just to see what would happen and got a perfectly nice man who apologized and said that maybe his phone accidentally dialed me from his pocket! The poor innocent thing; I’m glad I didn’t yell at him or anything!

A word of caution from personal experience: be careful when calling these numbers back. I called one back, it didn't connect but it did hijack my number and forwarded it to some number in Florida (CA phone number). I didn't realize it for nearly a week. Some friends were coming to visit and said my number went straight to VM, didn't think much of it beyond a weird network issue. But another friend said (via text) they were going to "call me in 5 minutes" then said your phone keeps going straight to voice-mail and it's not your usual outgoing message. I called T-Mobile and yep, phone number was forwarded to someone else, probably used to spoof. Which would also explain the angry text I got from someone from a number I didn't know about calling them at all hours.

Edited August 31, 2021 by theredhead77

[TattleTeeny]

I did it once a while back and bickered back and forth with the guy on the other end, until we both kind of realized there was some shenanigans happening. Then we started chatting for a while about New Orleans, which is where he lived. Haha, he said to save his number if we were ever there for a visit and he and his wife would meet us for a drink (obviously he was kidding, but it was funny). I hope the hurricane didn’t get them!

Edited September 1, 2021 by TattleTeeny

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

A word of caution from personal experience: be careful when calling these numbers back. I called one back, it didn't connect but it did hijack my number and forwarded it to some number in Florida (CA phone number). I didn't realize it for nearly a week. Some friends were coming to visit and said my number went straight to VM, didn't think much of it beyond a weird network issue. But another friend said (via text) they were going to "call me in 5 minutes" then said your phone keeps going straight to voice-mail and it's not your usual outgoing message. I called T-Mobile and yep, phone number was forwarded to someone else, probably used to spoof. Which would also explain the angry text I got from someone from a number I didn't know about calling them at all hours.

Wow. How did it get resolved? Did T-Mobile have to fix it, or could you have unforwarded it yourself?

[theredhead77]

7 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Wow. How did it get resolved? Did T-Mobile have to fix it, or could you have unforwarded it yourself?

T-Mobile fixed it and helped me set up secondary security on my account in less than 5 minutes.

[shapeshifter]

10 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

I was thinking to myself what is the most over-priced item in the grocery store, and I think it has to be a toss up between pre-made, macaroni salad, coleslaw, and potato salad.

Those salads are easy to make at home at probably one third the cost of buying the pre-made versions.  I can make them to suit my own tastes, without adding too much pepper, which seems to be a trend in both the macaroni and potato salads.  I am not a big fan of white pepper.  I would rather have them use black pepper.  The visual of black ground pepper in a deli salad has never bothered me.

Hungry and anxious to get back on the road home, my daughter and I stopped at Wegmans to get something to eat in the car before heading back—otherwise I would not buy prepared salad. I grabbed a small container of potato salad and was surprised at the peppery bite. 
So that was white pepper.  
Huh.🤔   
Not a fan either.

Edited September 1, 2021 by shapeshifter

[Abra]

4 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

How lazy do people have to be where they can't just cut their own cheese?

0% lazy. They could have a neurodivergence or mental illness that affects their executive function, and having pre-cut cheese vs something they have to cut themselves could make the difference between them eating or not. They could work multiple jobs or have one physically demanding job that wipes them out and they just want something relatively healthy that they don't have to do extra work to make. They could have arthritis or other mobility issues that make cutting cheese difficult.

Edited September 1, 2021 by Abra

[TattleTeeny]

I do some of the standard cooking/eating prep work, but there definitely are a few things I like to buy already done — minced garlic and shredded carrots, for example.

[shapeshifter]

30 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

I do some of the standard cooking/eating prep work, but there definitely are a few things I like to buy already done

Decades ago when I was home with kids, I used to do things like use fresh tomatoes instead of canned to make tomato sauce. After I was divorced and working full time and going to school with 3 kids still at home, it suddenly dawned on me that since, for example, I do not grow the wheat and process it into flour myself, it was perfectly fine to buy bread instead of making it.

[WinnieWinkle]

One item that I really like for the convenience is frozen chopped onions.  Not expensive either - certainly not when you consider how many onions you throw out because they got gross sitting in your fridge too long - well how many I used to throw out of my fridge anyway!

Peeve of the day: Neighbour who just bought one of those ATV deals that is super loud and they feel the need, apparently, to circle the block multiple times a day in it.  Hopefully they will tire of their expensive new toy soon.

Edited September 1, 2021 by WinnieWinkle

[WinnieWinkle]

1 hour ago, WinnieWinkle said:

Hopefully they will tire of their expensive new toy soon.

Huzzah - posting this brought me luck - turns out the ATV belongs to the son of the family and he is moving out Saturday!  And there will be peace in the valley once more 😃!

[KittyMom4]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

Decades ago when I was home with kids, I used to do things like use fresh tomatoes instead of canned to make tomato sauce. After I was divorced and working full time and going to school with 3 kids still at home, it suddenly dawned on me that since, for example, I do not grow the wheat and process it into flour myself, it was perfectly fine to buy bread instead of making it.

Same here, when it was just the girls and myself, working full-time, running them to practices and events, it was important for my sanity and health to let go of freshly prepared everything. Now that I have a bit more time on my hands I don't mind making from scratch, but I do love the pre-cut veggies that my Wegmans offers! If I can shave off 10-15mins of chopping peppers/onions/carrots that means I get some extra wine-sippin' time! 

1 hour ago, WinnieWinkle said:

Peeve of the day: Neighbour who just bought one of those ATV deals that is super loud and they feel the need, apparently, to circle the block multiple times a day in it.  Hopefully they will tire of their expensive new toy soon.

Glad he's leaving soon, I dealt with a young boy on a minibike for 2 or 3 years at my old house. He'd zip around on the street unsupervised for hours on end during the warmer months. First was my fear that he'd get hit, 2nd was my annoyance at the sound. :) 

[Leeds]

18 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

Ugh, the spam calls are on a tear today, man — all from South Dakota and all pretending to be Amazon. And apparently spoofing regular people’s phone numbers. I called one back just to see what would happen and got a perfectly nice man who apologized and said that maybe his phone accidentally dialed me from his pocket! The poor innocent thing; I’m glad I didn’t yell at him or anything!

I recently started to get spam texts promising impossible savings on insurance or telling me that my check is waiting for me, etc, so click on this link.  Of course I never do, but it's very irritating.

 

Edited September 1, 2021 by Leeds
Grammar

[peacheslatour]

2 hours ago, BexKeps said:

Same here, when it was just the girls and myself, working full-time, running them to practices and events, it was important for my sanity and health to let go of freshly prepared everything. Now that I have a bit more time on my hands I don't mind making from scratch, but I do love the pre-cut veggies that my Wegmans offers! If I can shave off 10-15mins of chopping peppers/onions/carrots that means I get some extra wine-sippin' time! 

Glad he's leaving soon, I dealt with a young boy on a minibike for 2 or 3 years at my old house. He'd zip around on the street unsupervised for hours on end during the warmer months. First was my fear that he'd get hit, 2nd was my annoyance at the sound. :) 

I used to have a neighbor who would take care of her little nephew. We live on a very busy street and one day I saw him playing in the middle of it. I went out and yelled at him to get out of the street. I didn't know what to think when I saw his very large aunt barreling up my driveway. It turned out she wanted to thank me for keeping him safe. He told her the "mean lady" next door had yelled at him and she told him it served him right and to stay out of the street.

[MargeGunderson]

9 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

So I am in the grocery store, and I notice that they sell pre-cut cheeses that are just the right size for crackers.  I don't get  it.  I have no problem "cutting the cheese."  How lazy do people have to be where they can't just cut their own cheese?

I was thinking to myself what is the most over-priced item in the grocery store, and I think it has to be a toss up between pre-made, macaroni salad, coleslaw, and potato salad.

Those salads are easy to make at home at probably one third the cost of buying the pre-made versions.  I can make them to suit my own tastes, without adding too much pepper, which seems to be a trend in both the macaroni and potato salads.  I am not a big fan of white pepper.  I would rather have them use black pepper.  The visual of black ground pepper in a deli salad has never bothered me. 

Honestly? I have more money than time. If I like a product that prewashed, precut, etc. and it’s going to save me some of my limited free time, I’ll buy it. 

 

[Bastet]

3 hours ago, MargeGunderson said:

Honestly? I have more money than time. If I like a product that prewashed, precut, etc. and it’s going to save me some of my limited free time, I’ll buy it. 

Amen.  I very rarely pay a convenience fee, but if that's the only reason behind someone buying food that's been prepared in part or completely, there's nothing wrong with that.  One doesn't have to have a physical need to justify the choice.

My exception is a bag of spring mix salad.  I still make specialty salads myself, but for basic mixed greens I switched to Classic Salads spring mix.  Absolutely, it costs me more per salad than when I mixed lettuce, spinach, and cabbage myself.  But it gives me a salad consisting of a dozen different greens.  If I went out and bought a head of each and mixed it myself, that would be cheaper per ounce, but that would leave me with a shit ton of greens I couldn't eat before they went bad - most of those ounces would wind up in the compost bin.  The one-pound bag is exactly the right amount for me to get through before the more delicate greens start getting dark and slimy.  So, for that, and not having to spend the time washing all those greens, either, it's well worth the cost.

I don't like the plastic packaging involved, but I don't beat myself up over it since it's an exception, not the rule, in how I shop.

Edited September 1, 2021 by Bastet

[KittyMom4]

1 hour ago, peacheslatour said:

I used to have a neighbor who would take care of her little nephew. We live on a very busy street and one day I saw him playing in the middle of it. I went out and yelled at him to get out of the street. I didn't know what to think when I saw his very large aunt barreling up my driveway. It turned out she wanted to thank me for keeping him safe. He told her the "mean lady" next door had yelled at him and she told him it served him right and to stay out of the street.

That's refreshing to hear! 

[peacheslatour]

7 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Amen.  I very rarely pay a convenience fee, but if that's the only reason behind someone buying food that's been prepared in part or completely, there's nothing wrong with that.  One doesn't have to have a physical need to justify the choice.

My exception is a bag of spring mix salad.  I still make specialty salads myself, but for basic mixed greens I switched to Classic Salads spring mix.  Absolutely, it costs me more per salad than when I mixed lettuce, spinach, and cabbage myself.  But it gives me a salad consisting of a dozen different greens.  If I went out and bought a head of each and mixed it myself, that would be cheaper per ounce, but that would leave me with a shit ton of greens I couldn't eat before they went bad - most of those ounces would wind up in the compost bin.  The one-pound bag is exactly the right amount for me to get through before the more delicate greens start getting dark and slimy.  So, for that, and not having to spend the time washing all those greens, either, it's well worth the cost.

I have this recipe for green pea soup that calls for 16 oz. of spinach. I just gab a couple handfuls from the salad bar at my grocery.

[WinnieWinkle]

1 hour ago, peacheslatour said:

It turned out she wanted to thank me for keeping him safe. He told her the "mean lady" next door had yelled at him and she told him it served him right and to stay out of the street.

So nice to read this!  From my experience working in a public library I have to say most parents are probably like this neighbour of yours but oh god the ones who weren't!  I had people yell at staff who dared to prevent their little darling from tearing pages out of books - and I'm not talking about toddlers here!  

[peacheslatour]

Just now, WinnieWinkle said:

So nice to read this!  From my experience working in a public library I have to say most parents are probably like this neighbour of yours but oh god the ones who weren't!  I had people yell at staff who dared to prevent their little darling from tearing pages out of books - and I'm not talking about toddlers here!  

I know. I was very nervous when I saw the aunt coming. Like I said, she was a large woman and she must have had RBF because she looked pissed.

[theredhead77]

1 hour ago, MargeGunderson said:

Honestly? I have more money than time. If I like a product that prewashed, precut, etc. and it’s going to save me some of my limited free time, I’ll buy it. 

 

 

23 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Amen.  I very rarely pay a convenience fee, but if that's the only reason behind someone buying food that's been prepared in part or completely, there's nothing wrong with that.  One doesn't have to have a physical need to justify the choice.

I knew I "made it"* when I could buy all the pre-packaged and pre-sliced stuff I wanted without having having to think about what I would have to cut off my grocery list to afford the few extra bucks. You can pry the pre-sliced bag of carrots out of my cold, dead hands. I love carrots. I hate peeling an cutting carrots. Onions and their annoying paper skin? No problem. But F carrot peel. That can go straight to hell. Trader Joe's has a mix of onion, carrot and celery that is marketed for homemade soup. I buy the container, dump it into a different container to mix it all up and put it on salads.

*Obviously, this was for me, EMMV, of course.

[SoMuchTV]

Taking the pre-cut foods to Chit-Chat...