Being shadowed while trying to cook dinner. Very aggravated. Any advice?

I can't let him help me with food prep because the kitchen is too small for two to work, and I need to be as quick as possible to get off my feet (knee hurts).

Get a little table or T.V. tray, sit him down with a bowl of something: peas to pod, berries to sort, grapes to seed. Something done by hand, no knives or peelers.
He is now the sous chef, ask him to tell you if something is burning.

Cc, My patience wears thin sometimes and things like that get on my nerves big time. Like today I took mom to the grocery store and mom who has AD is so slow and examines every tomato for 5 minutes. Anyway, giving him another chore is a good idea or sometimes I know what they are about to do and suggest they stand right here under foot and I go to another spot. It's hard when I'm tired, but I try to make little jokes and keep my sense of humor.

omg, I'm starting to get an idea. When he reads the paper, he tells me what's in it. Maybe we can try that at this time and location. What else? Another idea?

Save towels for him to fold. Socks to match. Plastic bags to roll up and put in another plastic bag. Potatoes to peel. Veggies to cut up for crudités. "I've got nothing you can help me with for dinner tonight, dad, but how about sitting over there and keeping me company?"

Find little things he can do to help you at dinner time. Sitting in that chair by the window. It would be a great kindness to him if you could.

Can he still read? Maybe he could read the paper to you? My mom doesn't have Alzheimers, but has no short-term memory. So she'll ask me the same question 5X in 5 minutes. I don't live with her, so you're a saint in my book to be able to deal with it day in and day out! My mom can still read very well. Maybe you could ask your dad to read you some poems or read the newspaper or something like that? I'm just trying to think of something creative...Or could you ask him to tell you a story about his childhood? Give him a new topic each time?

blannie- Thanks. I think he wants to interact. Then he (sometimes) drives me crazy with the same questions and thoughts, if he sits in the chair. I think maybe I need ideas on how to cope with the 30 minutes of circular talking and questioning. (We don't eat at the table, I set up trays in about 2 minutes, we don't have plants, we don't have room for a puzzle, even in the living room- that's where Mom is in a hospital bed, and he's already taken out the garbage.) I appreciate your answer- it's helps me realize what I'm trying to get at. I enjoy his company when he sits in the chair. I just wish I could do something to enjoy the actual talk.

PS, Mom's almost bedridden and had some LBD. I live with them, so it's the three of us 24/7 with the exception of three mornings when Dad and I do errands. Both parents are so wonderful, that the above problem is my biggest problem (other than my occasional exhaustion from getting to doctor visits, etc.).

Could you get him set up in another room to do some other task for you? Fold towels, sort something, "help" you with a puzzle you're stuck on...some small task that will keep him occupied while you can go make dinner? Can he set the table? Water the plants? Take out the garbage? You get the idea...that's what I'd try.