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DITTO Emma! Im only good with others when I can direct them (kids, etc)! Hehe. Other than that I move around so seamlessly that other people get in my way.

I DO like other people to be sitting across the bar and talking to me though... I love talking.

My poor husband-- he always wants to help but I'm too grumpy and impatient. He knows next to nothing about cooking, so most of the time I get frustrated and just tell him to have a seat. I need to quit being so impatient so that I can teach him the skills he needs to know.

Thanks for this post. I think you've inspired me to have a little cooking session with the hubby tonight.

I'm too much of a control freak. I'm in my zone when I cook so everything/everyone else is an annoyance. If i'm in someone else's kitchen I tend to take over and be bossy, which is way out of character for me. So it's just best to keep away from me when I cook.

I love cooking with family! I think it comes from having a large, close-knit family, most of whom are excellent cooks. Since I grew up in crowded kitchens, now it's just the norm. My husband helps me almost every night (although he mostly just stirs and fetches ingredients - we joke that he's my sous-chef!)

I prefer flying solo. Also, I'm pretty anal about using any downtime, even if only for a minute, for clean up. So there better not be anybody washing potatoes in the sink while my sauce is simmerin.

Generally, I love to cook alone (but with someone in the kitchen for conversation and taste testing). However, the partner is a phenomenal cook - so we'll usually split up dishes for meals - with the rule of thumb being that we don't meddle in each others work, but are allowed unlimited taste tests.

I'm with the "control-freak in the kitchen" crowd, and my boyfriend has learned to stay away while I cook.

On the other hand, our cat is a great cooking companion. She comes to the kitchen, sits in her corner, and stares at me with anticipation and (dare I say) wonder while I cook. :)

My girlfriend isn't much of a cook, so usually if she helps in the kitchen it's because I've asked her to do some sous chef task while I work on something else - "Honey, can you mince this garlic?" sort of thing.

My mother is of the opinion that she likes to cook with me, but that's because I just let her do things her way and do sous chef things myself.

My husband and I enjoy cooking together...it's kind of like nice teamwork. You know, learning how to play nicely in the sandbox? But sometimes, I enjoy having full control of the kitchen (especially if I'm experimenting with a new recipe or trying one of his mother's recipes b/c otherwise he get a little too "that's not how my mom does it"-ish) and just relaxing away in there while cooking alone.

nithya
www.hungrydesi.com

I suppose I'm a control freak as well. I was also taught that men "don't" belong in the kitchen. Growing up watching my mom constantly barking at my dad to not "show" her how it's done was a constant. Also, the kitchen was where the women in the family all chipped in and shared their stories. They instructed the younger girls; their daughter's, the importance of food.

Over the years I realized my daughter loves to cook more with a group of women vs. alone with me. When cooking for family my husband always chips in and will chop herbs, garlic, or onions etc... He also cooks but prefers to alone. I think for me sometimes I like the extra help other times I prefer to do it alone.

i like cooking with an audience but am usually happy to have more watchers than helpers.

I used to LOVE cooking together and it was always one of my favorite activities, but I recently lost my job while my fiance is still working. I spend most of my days on cooking blogs...hence I end up doing most of the cooking! I've really enjoyed cooking solo and flying around the kitchen to my own rhythm. I'll get super annoyed when he is doing something nice like emptying the dishwasher or getting something out of the fridge cause it is IN MY PATH.

I'm working on that, though, cause I think my fiance misses the days of cooking together.

I prefer the zen-like benefits of cooking alone but my boyfriend and I both know how to cook so we take turns instead of crowding each other in the kitchen. When one is making dinner, the other looks onward, dawdling over a beverage, talking about his/her day. It's nice, and both of us get to relax instead of fighting over who's way is better.

When I was younger, my sister somehow always crept into the kitchen and it annoyed me to death.
Now I live in apartment where I have a closet for a kitchen, so extra hands are not allowed.
I don't think I like cooking/baking with others even around. My turf and I don't share too well

For everyday weeknight meals I prefer flying solo, but for the more involved weekend dinner party type fare I love sharing the kitchen with my husband. We cook for our friends pretty regularly. He's a great cook and we are good at divvying up tasks and working around each other. It almost like a dance.

However, he's the only one I can cook with. I always cringe if a friend is over for dinner and asks what they can do to help. Usually I just politely suggest that they sit back, have a drink, and relax.

As an aside, my control freak side does come out when it's time to do the post-meal cleanup. I prefer to do this part alone.

I hate stepping around other people in the kitchen. I'm a methodical, organized, control freak kind of cook and I usually have a plan in mind before I start. It's frankly annoying to be interrupted to find some task for someone else to do. Thanksgiving with my family is the worst for this - everyone wants to help and it's always too many cooks in the kitchen.

I tend to prefer cooking alone; putting together my mise en place and chopping mirepoix are cathartic and helps settle myself before a big task. However, I can remember not being able to stay out of my grandmother's kitchen when she was cooking. In fact, she encouraged me to come in, watch, help, and then clean up all the dishes afterward. I want to ensure take the same approach with anyone I bring into my kitchen.

It depends on the other person and the kitchen.

Some people I work with very well in the kitchen while others are constantly underfoot. When I've had well designed kitchens it has been a joy to cook with someone else, but right now I'm in a kitchen that makes it hard to share space. You need to get things from behind, in front of, next to the other person, constantly. Writing this, I'm thinking about trying to rearrange how I store things so that we can cook together more companionably.

You know how in some people's kitchens you can just walk in and find things? They organize things in a way that seems logical to you. I think that this is a way to determine if you can cook in a kitchen with them. People who organize things in a way that seems illogical to you are probably a bad match.

My husband and I always collaborate on cooking -- I couldn't imagine it any other way. He's not as experienced in the kitchen, but I frequently ask him for ideas about what he would like to eat (sometimes the ideas are really interesting, but sometimes they are really weird), and he's very helpful in the chopping / stirring department. Dinner would be served much later without his help.

With other people, I find it's easiest to divide dishes. We make a game plan first, then I make whatever side dish to accompany a friend's main course, or some variation of that theme.

That being said. I almost never allow my guests to help out, but that's because I want them to relax and "served" when I invite them for dinner.

Both!

Given that my current kitchen is barely big enough for one person to cook in, two is right out!

That said, my husband and I do sometime engage in "serial cooking" where we swap off (I'll put the rice on, then he'll chop veggies, then I'll do a stir fry; or he makes the sauce and then I'll do the pasta.)

I like to cook with people who know what they are doing... I hate having to show someone how to chop an onion! But I do like having a chatty companion who will sit there and refill my wine glass while I cook :)

http://whatsonmyplate.wordpress.com

I admit that there is something calming and pleasant about cooking on my own. I tend to enjoy the peace and ability to think. It's also such a nice feeling to toil in the kitchen and then present your meal to your friends or family.

I do like cooking with my mom though, because for years she hated to cook and now loves it and has improved so much. It's fun to see her learn and be excited. Otherwise I tend to annoy my fellow chefs by telling them what to do. I try not to but I can't help it. If I'm not the one running things its best if I'm in the other room!

dinnerblogging.blogspot.com

While I am not the world's greatest cook, I am far more practiced than anyone else in my family. (I recently taught my 36 year old sister how to make a box of macaroni and cheese, no joke).

I live alone, so I cook alone. But at the homes of family, I tend to be the main "helper" in the kitchen, and I can't say I enjoy it. It almost feels like my own cooking show, because I get peppered with questions about what I'm doing, or not doing.

"Why won't you use the glass cutting board? Why isn't the lid on the pot of cooked rice? Eeeewww, you're gonna use that meat gunk in the pan??"

At a gathering of extended family, we were baking many frozen pizzas. I found the pizza cutter, but it was as dull as a spoon. So i began sharpening it against the bottom of a ceramic coffee cup. Everyone stopped talking and just stared at me, as if I were kneading bread with my feet while naked.

Then again, I'm the one who spent forever trying to carve up a turkey by using the wrong side of the knife, lol

I love cooking with others. I work in a kitchen, so I guess that helps. My boyfriend usually takes charge a bit more, but sometimes we each take a dish, or one of us chops, the other fries if we are doing a one pot meal. Either way, half our time together is spent in the kitchen with at least one half cooking.

I fell in love with cooking because I love spending time in the kitchen with the people I love. Sure sometimes cooking alone is nice or more convenient, but there is something to be said about the bonds we make while we're working together in the kitchen, the conversations we have, the laughs we share, and then getting to enjoy the food we created together. I love that!

I've written about this a couple of times
http://good-life-eats.blogspot.com/2008/10/about-goodlife-eats.html

http://good-life-eats.blogspot.com/2009/03/orange-chocolate-chunk-brownies.html