Can you please explain what is "heavy 1950s type food"?

Oh i thought this was going to be an awful story about corned beef, cabbage and sewer. Clogged toilets or something. Always could be worse! Now you have a reason to keep her out of the kitchen.

My mil hates anyone else loading her dishwasher. I accept that. Your mil needs to accept your preference.

Anonymous wrote:

It somehow made it through

Doesn't really seem it is your MIL's fault. I'd wonder how it made it past the blades, she didn't have special MIL powers to get it past.

Any plumber will tell you that you are NOT supposed to put potato peels or other such things down a garbage disposal. It is too much and it all turns to mush, even if it is shredded, and still clogs the drain.

Disposals/aerators are really just for the rare crumbs that come off of dishes, et cetera. They're not mean to be used in place of a trash can.

Anonymous wrote:
Plumber is now here. MIL put down a huge cabbage core in our garbage disposal. Potato peels. Onion skins. It somehow made it through then jammed at entrance to main line. Plumber is now CUTTING out pipe in the basement. Just got the giant wad of food out. Big bill.
DH mentions this to his parents who are now home in NY. FIL's response was to chastise him, "your mother made you a nice dinner. Didn't you like it?"

You sound like a difficult hostess who they have to put up with to visit their grandchildren. My parents and I have been putting stuff like this down our disposals for about 40 years and we've only had a small handful of plumbing calls. If it "somehow made it through" then it means that there was something wrong with your disposal and it was going to go at any time. It could have happened a few days later. The only thing your mother-in-law's food did was made it happen slightly sooner rather than later. How old is your disposal? It sounds like you should consider replacing the disposal.

You do sound unhospitable and ungrateful. I'm sorry you don't like your mother-in-law, but whether you have issues and reasons to dislike her, she also clearly has issues and reasons to dislike you. But you are now tied by family (both your husband and children) and you have to find a way to make peace with each other. Tolerate what you can and find ways to take time for yourself to relax and calm down when you can't.

http://www.horizonservicesinc.com/reference/tips-articles/plumbing-drain-cleaning-garbage-disposal-dos-donts

We have rental properties and learned the hard way that many people do not know the do's and don'ts of garbage disposals. You are NOT supposed to put potato skins down a grbage disposal (see link above).

The MIL was clearly wrong for what she did, but she most likely didn't know any better. She's no different from anyone though. OP, it's your house. You let her cook. You pay. In a perfect world, they would offer to pay, but you can't expect it and it would be wrong to be angry with her for this. Suck it up. Don't let her cook again.

Actually, come to think of it, she's just given you a real gift. You said you don't like her cooking, now you have a lifetime excuse to say "no" when she comes over and wants to do it again.

I get it, totally annoying. I have had bills from MIL visits (expensive art she knocked off the wall by accident but it was somehow the paintings fault) but then also stuff happens when my family visits too (nieces spilled nail polish on carpet)!

Let your husband take the lead. If he wants to pursue it then let him ask for money. Otherwise drop it, find peace and remind yourself how good they are to your kids. Have them babysit when they visit and go get a bottle of champagne and toast to a happy life

And, no, you should not ask for help with the bill. It is not their fault.

If it down out of the disposal and through some of the pipe then it wasn't really her fault. People put that stuff in all the time. If it wasn't able to be cut down it wouldn't have made it out of the sink/disposal trap.

I think this is an unfortunate tipping point for your plumbing system, and she happened to be the one that set it off.

Let it go.

I'd say it sounds like you need a new disposal. Your MIL didn't do anything really odd. I thought you were going to say that she poured a gallon of bacon grease down the sink and let it harden or something. I think your disposal was not doing it's job.

Sorry, I know that wasn't the answer you were hoping for. But, I do agree with you. FIL should suck it up while in your home and eat whatever you cook. In his house, he can cook and serve his favorite foods.

Well she wouldn't be cooking at my house again.

There is no way a cabbage core made it into your pipe. Did you whine that story to the plumber ? He thought JACKPOT !!!

Because if you did, you deserve a big bill as your stupid prize.

It is time to move on. We get it, you don't like your MIL. Someday you will be a MIL.

It somehow made it through

Doesn't really seem it is your MIL's fault. I'd wonder how it made it past the blades, she didn't have special MIL powers to get it past.

Get over it.

How would you handle this? MIL and FIL came to visit. They're devoted grandparents, love their son and are polite to me.

A long standing issue has been that FIL doesn't like my cooking. He prefers heavy 1950s type food. I make meats, veggies, pot pie etc. MIL always wants to cook so FIL will be happy, but I politely decline, mainly because both my kids and I hate her cooking. Is this all ridiculous or what?! But I think it's my house, you eat my food. When I visit you then I'll eat your food.

MIL brought a corned beef and cabbage this visit. I think "how kind" and encourage her to cook.

An hour after they leave our kitchen sink clogs up. Dishwasher won't drain either. The snowstorm starts.
I start washing the mountain of dishes in the unfinished basement. We have 2 under 3, so this isn't easy.

Plumber is now here. MIL put down a huge cabbage core in our garbage disposal. Potato peels. Onion skins. It somehow made it through then jammed at entrance to main line. Plumber is now CUTTING out pipe in the basement. Just got the giant wad of food out. Big bill.
DH mentions this to his parents who are now home in NY. FIL's response was to chastise him, "your mother made you a nice dinner. Didn't you like it?"

How would you handle this? Is it too rude to ask for help with the bill? I think it's too rude but damn I'm angry.