What do you do whilst cooking dinner ?

I don't cook, DH makes all our meals. We both watch Pointless or the News while it's cooking. On the rare occasions I do cook something I shove it in the oven and go off to do something more interesting. We often had 'slightly overcooked' dinners which is why DH took over the cooking.

Read my online newspaper. Browse the internet. Tidy up. Put something away. Load the washing machine. Sort the tumble drying. Clean something! Anything to make time pass!

I always get in the bath while my dinners cooking, by time I’ve had leisurely bath and in pjs my dinners nearly ready to dish up.

I knock about in the kitchen with a book, newspaper, crossword puzzle or the like but mostly I put the dried crockery away from the last 'wash up' in order to clear the decks, as it were. It doesn't stay clear for long, does it?

My kitchen and living room are open plan so I usually watch the TV whilst listening for the timer or pans boiling over.
I tend to get things ready in advance so don't have a very long time standing actually cooking. (Or I do something in the oven).
In the summer we often take the air fryer outside and sit with a drink out there.

Have a G & T and play Words with Friends in my phone.

Radio 4 while cooking then Channel Four News while eating at 7pm.

Get everything sorted and in the oven I usually oven cook as we have an aga[That we inherited but has to be used to justify using the oil then make a coffee and watch the 6 o'clock news.

Kitchen/dining room and living room with TV all in one large open plan room.

Listen to Classic FM/empty & load dishwasher/clean worktops/empty & load washer/text/e-mail/recycle containers. It’s boring, but I want to get it done so I can sit down after the meal!

A large glass of red🙂

Mokeswife

I'm amazed at the number of people here with TVs in their kitchens! I listen to Radio 4 News - on the radio!!

If I watch TV in the kitchen (rarely) it is on my iPad on a stand where it is safely out of harm's way. You don't need an actual TV nowadays - even a phone will do.

Sit on the sofa with a drink and GN while my husband does the cooking. I am the washer upper, he does tend to use a lot of utensils.

All the little odd jobs, and listen to radio, also have a glass of wine, drying up, hanging up laundry, sudoku. It always amuses me when DH makes a cup of tea, he will stand by the kettle waiting for it to boil. I can feed the dog, wash up, empty dish washer wipe floor, all before the kettle has boiled.

It's Saturday night so I will have a glass of wine 🍷

I can feed the dog, wash up, empty dish washer wipe floor, all before the kettle has boiled
😁

We have a new kettle mistymitts and it's very speedy, I barely have time to make a piece of toast!

Anything I like! DH does the cooking. Usually DH listens to Radio 4 in the kitchen but on Saturdays we have Radio 6 and Craig Charles's "funk" music show. And tonight DH has made Kir Royale drinks for a pre-meal treat.

I tell Alexa to play Italian songs,especially if I’m preparing an
Italian dish.Sometimes I tell Alexa to play French songs,like
Franchoise Hardy.It really gets me in the mood for cooking.

Once it is all cooking, I clear up, do a jigsaw if one is on the go, or do word puzzles in the newspaper, or look at Pointless or Flog it or whatever DH is watching.
If I need to stand over it, ClassicFM is on. These days I get tired if I have to stand and cook for too long, but tend to avoid putting the oven on, except for Sunday dinner- back to my Mum’s habits.

Depends what is cooking and how much attention it needs. Watch TV, have a 🍷, clean up, empty/fill the dishwasher, 'microwave' the plates to heat them. I can't go too far if something needs attention as I'm likely to forget I've got something cooking until smoke from the kitchen reminds me.

Watch the news

Listen to some music, have a glass of dry white do some of the jigsaw puzzle on the go in the kitchen at the moment. Meanwhile, as DH is making a superb recovery, he is doing the cooking again, something he enjoys since retirement and joins me to add a few pieces to the jigsaw. Once cooked we sit at the table and eat. I do the clearing up then we finish off with a small coffee.

The sort of food I cook now needs me to stand over it so I often put my favourtite playlist on spotify and sing to it and drink a mixture of red wine and soda. It all helps!

I’m surprised about the amount of slurping whilst cooking.
I occasionally like a drink with a meal, but imagine those that drink whilst cooking are meaning just whilst cooking special occasion dinners, not a regular thing?
If I drink whilst cooking a “special” meal (infrequent) I would probably burn or drop it, or have some similar disaster, especially when expecting guests.

At other times I would be worried that drinking every time whilst I was waiting for a meal to cook could be, er…………habit forming.

I like a glass of wine when preparing and cooking in the evening, and no not only when cooking special occasion dinners.

And I definitely wouldn't burn, drop or have a disaster whilst enjoying a glass of wine!

Baggs

Once everything is cooking and the table's set, I sit down, put my feet on the horizontal cooker door handle and read a book. Might sip some wine while I'm at it.

What a lovely picture you paint Baggs

I imagine you have a large old country-style kitchen with an Aga - I wouldn't be able to swing my legs up onto the cooker in my little urban kitchen!