How to chase my culinary student brother out of my kitchen.

[BatCity]

"My house, my kitchen. Get out!"

I didn't see enough replies in favor of doing something like this.  This is the ONLY thing that works with my family, and it works very well.

[Clara Bow]

Then let me throw my two cents in for the blunt response! I'll be using it this Christmas to keep my step mother in law out of my kitchen. I've already had to put the kibosh on her bringing some nightmare side dish or dessert...the holidays remind me just how much I wish I had a deserted island....

[Pixie]

I have a secret...... NO ONE comes to my house on Christmas.   We don't open the door!   I do the cooking by myself, the way my family likes it.   Hubby and the kids usually pitch in, and our family dinner is just that..... our family.    Just one day a year we keep to ourselves.   

But.... if we were to host a dinner, I'd just toss the bother out of the kitchen.  Polite but firm.




Oops.... I mean bRother...

[blarg314]

I vote for the 'my kitchen' response.

Plus, the next time he rushes out to buy $45 dollar steaks, refuse to pay for them. He'll soon figure out that one of the reasons most people don't use top of the line ingredients for day to day cooking is that it's much too expensive too keep up.

I would guess that this behaviour will drop off once he settles into a job and the novelty wears off a bit. It may just be enthusiasm over what he's learning, but it'll be annoying while it lasts.

[Chartreuse]

I don't have any suggestions, but I feel obligated to make a smart alec remark.

You're chasing him out of the kitchen.  That kitchen is full of sharp pointy objects.  I think you should be able to figure out how to keep him out of there.   

[Lisbeth]

Since this is your brother, I'd be friendly, but blunt, as in: "Brett, you're here as my guest, not as a cook and not as a student.  If you really don't like what we have, you're excused.  But if you do want to be with us, you need to lose your attitude of entitlement and accept that I am not a 5-star hotel and restaurant."

[gjcva1]

willow, i think that as the loving and caring big sister that you are, you should do everything you can to promote and assist your brother in his chosen career.  which means not throwing him out of the kitchen, but helping him practice the first job he will have when he leaves that prestigious cooking school - prep cook.  meaning he gets to a whole lot of scut work.  guess who peels the potatos?  the prep cook.  guess who does the cleaning and prepping of veggies for cooking?  the prep cook.  guess who gets to help the dishwasher when every stinking pan in the kitchen is dirty, the dishwasher is behind, and the kitchen is slammed?  the prep cook.  guess who gets to do every single menial job that no one else has time for, or wants to do?  the prep cook!  after all, it's only fair that you help him out if you love him!!!   

you might also tell him, when he demands a $45 piece of steak that if he spends that much money when he opens Chez Brett, he'll go broke in six months!  he obviously hasn't been paying much attention in food costs class!

my future son-in-law is a chef.  he graduated from a prestigious cooking school as well.  and over the years i have watched his ability to turn ordinary ingredients into simply wonderful food, and his ability to work "clean" to be amazing.  does he splurge on expensive ingredients sometimes?  sure.  but as his career has progressed, his skills have developed along those lines.  he is now the sous chef in one location of a Washington DC based chain with an excellent reputation, a chain that routinely makes the "Best" list of local restaraunts.  he didn't get hired by telling the chef what kind of meat he expected to work with.

an excellent book for Brett might be "The Soul of a Chef" by Michael Ruhlman.  especially part two, which details the story of Michael Symon of Cleveland.  when that book was written, Symon was dedicated to the idea of having no entree on his menu that cost the customer more than $20 or $25 (i can't remember which).  to profit (and profit he did), Symon had to be vigilant about food costs.  he is also a graduate of the CIA. it doesn't get much more prestigious than that.

[Morty'sCleaningLady]

As a different tactic, can someone run interference for you?  We used to do that with my Grandmother.  Mom and I would head to the kitchen and Dad would suddenly remember that he had a copy of an Angela Lansbury movie for Grandma to watch.  We'd also put out some hors d'euvres so she wouldn't snoop for tastes.

Obviously, this would need to be modified a bit.  Something tells me Brett isn't the biggest Angela Lansbury fan....

[hobish]

I have to agree with the "my house, my kitchen" option, but...

As he's so skilled, get him to carve the garnishes.

has got some merit, too. My bff went to culinary school, and said that they spent the first year learning how to turn various fruits & vegetables into flowery & pleasant shapes. 

[MamaMootz]

Here is your brand new option for Christmas dinner:

Order take out food. if no one cooks, no one can take over and be a food snob. And I don't mean to be mean if it sound like that, because I understand culinary school is new to Brother and he's probably just enthusiastic.

The local grocery stores by me, at least, are offering to cook the entire Christmas diiner of your choice for about $60.

No one cooks. No one gets hurt. I like it.

[Alida]

The test of a truly talented chef is being able to take "not quite perfect" ingredients and make them shine.  Try challenging him with that

[willow08]

The test of a truly talented chef is being able to take "not quite perfect" ingredients and make them shine.  Try challenging him with that

A one-man Iron Chef contest. Mwhahahahahaha. I like it.