Ahh kinda both.. I like having my little sister around to mix for me and stuff, but for the most part I get nervous when someone's watching. I'm just a beginner.

oh my goodness i always talk about how when i have my dream home i'm putting a comfy sitting area with a couch in my kitchen so people can talk to me when i cook and they can relax! i love having people around me when I cook just to talk to me, but hate making them squish into a small kitchen! I saw Mariah Carey did this on cribs, and ever since then its been a dream of mine!

Alone. I turn into a dictator when I cook with others and it's not pretty at all.

I love having people to talk with, and some of my friends make excellent sous chefs. And if my girlfriend is in town, then I absolutely *love* having her in the kitchen with me - I'll prep for her any day.

I like to cook alone...but I want my children to be competent in the kitchen. They each pick one or two days a month when they get to plan out the supper menu and then they help me cook it...or I help them. One of kids was given a kids-specific cookbook with really great recipes and they all like to use that. I'm teaching them how to look through cookbooks and be inspired. Even my seven year old will look through some and carefully make a list of her meal: she always plans a meat dish, a grain, and a vegetable!

I like to cook alone, but often my 8-year old son wants to help and that's great, too. He's been able to crack an egg since he was four, and now he can help me with most basic tasks. He likes to pretend we're on a cooking show.

I like to do my actual cooking without help, but I like it when guests hang out in the kitchen to chat with.

Alone. I usually end up spending more time giving out directions than it would take for me to actually do it.

I don't mind having people talk to me while I cook, but luckily, my kitchen is open to my living room, so they can stay the hell out of my kitchen!

I don't mind having people talk to me while I cook, but luckily, my kitchen is open to my living room, so they can stay the hell out of my kitchen!

I really don't enjoy cooking, and am usually pretty grumpy in the kitchen, so much as I'd like to have company when I'm cooking, strangely enough everyone avoids me when I'm in there!!!!

I like to cook alone with my mp3 player cranked out. It's my relaxation time.

my kitchen feels pretty tight when it is more than just me in there cooking. my dog and my husband tend to get in the way, so i like to kick them out and have what little space i have all to myself!

It totally depends. Sometines I need space to just move around and do my own thing. But I enjoy cooking with the boyfriend..and my mom as well!

it depends on the situation. with my man, we had a great time cooking at times, but it seemed like depending on what we cooked, it was hard to cook together. i think that it's a fun bonding experience to do it though at the beginning of our relationship

Alone. I'm a control freak when I'm cooking, I want to do it MY way, and I give my fiancee stares and glares (he actually recognizes my disapproving stares) when he added some spice I don't approve of, and basically kicked him out of the kitchen area to the living room LOL every time.

My kitchen is open to the living room and dining room, so people can actually talk to me when I'm cooking.

Alone. Everyone else always wants me to make a dish THEIR WAY OR ELSE, so that's a no-go. And I really don't like cooking for other people.

Also, I do my own little concoctions by myself in the kitchen. It's peaceful to test them on yourself there!

Both. But then again it depends on who I'm cooking with. I don't like bossy people in my kitchen ...because they're not really helping out.

I like to cook by myself, but I like it when my husband is in the kitchen to talk to me and give me a hand with random tasks. And when I bake, I like to have a buddy because it seems like things go more smoothly that way.

Depends on who's with me! I love having one of my flatmates around when I'm cooking because we chat while she's helping me chop stuff, and then lets me do the cooking. But having people around irritates me since they're always standing in front of the cupboard I want to open, using the tap when I need water, standing in my way... Argh even thinking about it makes me angry!

Sometimes my husband and I cook something together, but usually I prefer to do it alone. I'm very particular about cleaning as I go and it's tough when someone else is in the way.

The more the merrier!....up to 3 of us. We all need our own station.

Alone. Friends get really annoying when they start questioning my technique.

Give me the kitchen! Any one else would distract me.

I kind if prefer it solo I have a very particular way of things.

I like to have the kitchen to myself.

I am very particular on my cooking methods too, so I perfer to cook alone. Although, I don't mind my boyfriend standing around watching me so he learns something and I also like to pass him things to put away too lol.

If people want to keep their fingers, then they get out of my kitchen.

the picture on the right is odd....

I love the idea of cooking with my SO but it always just gets crowded in the kitchen and turns into a "did you do this already?" thing and it really is easier if I just do everything myself

I like to do the cooking alone but I don't mind having company while I am working

I LOVE to have people in the kitchen with me, and occasionally help, but mostly in the sense of, "can you chop this for me while I get this part started"

I prefer to cook alone (or with my dad) but I like to have people sit in the kitchen and chat with me while I cook. Although its fun when the family is around on big holidays like Thanksgiving to cook together. I always take the executive chef role.

My husband and I work very harmoniously in the kitchen! I know... gag, right?!

I'm with you tepiza, I don't mind but I don't really follow recipes 100% and eyeball a lot of the time so i hate when i keept hearing someone ask "Wait, you're not supposed to do that" or "I didn't see that written in the recipe". They all agree it comes out great but damnit, if they keep yammering about me not following a recipe to the T, I swear I will go Sweeney Todd on someone!

Thanks, TidalWave. That was my first thought on this post, what the heck is going on in that picture? Is it a mother/daughter combo? A domestic partnership? A first date? College friends experimenting? LOL

Some of the stock pictures on this site are just quite odd...

My boyfriend knows to stay out of the kitchen while I'm cooking, unless he wants to do dishes. Cooking is a calming experience for me, so I tend to lose myself in it.

I agree with PartySugar! It's hard to have too many cooks in the kitchen...but it's always wonderful to have company!

Oh and readers: that's not a stock photo. That is my mom and sister cooking together (they were making pecan pie I think) and that is me cooking alone.