Chaos Cook or OCD Cook? Which are you?

I've never been much of a cook. When my kids were little, I would make simple things, grilled cheese sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes. Then came the glory years when all I would do was call my son on the way home and tell him, "I'm at Wendys, Panda, McDonalds, Jakes Tex Mex, Burger King, etc., what do you want for dinner?" Ahhh...those were the days, no cooking, no shopping, no dishes to be done after dinner!

But recently, I've decided to eat healthier, which means that you have to shop and cook and of course you have to clean up afterwards. I was reading a blog the other day about how people are using their laptops in the kitchen rather than cookbooks. One person mentioned that it's not a good idea for her to use a laptop judging from the state of her cook books and how she is one of those cooks that drags out every pot and pan and has them all piled up alongside cookie sheets and cutting boards. With all that going on her laptop would definitely not survive for long.

When I cook I always need a recipe, so when I find a recipe I like I email it to myself at work and on my personal email, I pin it on pinterest, I share it on facebook and I print it out! Most of the time what I printed out ends up in a pile of mail and bills to be paid so I have to resort to using my laptop. Luckily I am a very neat and organized cook, almost too neat and organized (not so neat and organized with mail and bills).

So I have started using my laptop in the kitchen quite a bit, but I'm always worried that I'm going to get something on it and ruin it or make the keys all sticky! They need to invent something to hold your laptop while you cook. Here's a picture of my kitchen and I think maybe I need to invent something to hold my laptop on the ledge of the window over the sink. Something that would hold it in place and not let it fall into the sink and keep it above the counter so I couldn't get it all sticky and messy.

But back to my cooking technique...I am a very OCD cook. I clean as I go. I have to use all the proper cooking tools. If a recipe calls for 1/4 teaspoon of pepper, I use my measuring spoons, no guessing or a dash of this and a palmful of that for me! My mom on the other hand salts her food by just using the box of Morton Salt! (Don't tell her I told you that though, just between you and me!)

So I use tons of dishes and bowls and cutting boards and pots and pans too, but I wash everything as I go and put it away, which means it takes me hours to make a simple dish, but I just can't bring myself to leave the counters and sink a mess to be cleaned up afterward. I'm an OCD cook. So if I ever invite you to dinner and you tell me, "Cool, you cook and I'll clean up" you are getting a deal because other than the plates and utensils and glasses we use to eat, everything will already be washed up before we sit down at the table!

So are you a Chaos Cook or an OCD Cook like me?