I guess many of us run in different circles. All my gifts of homemade preserves come directly from those who grew them and canned them, and no one I know has a housekeeper or an unused sterile kitchen (neither unused nor sterile!).
I sometimes nuke bacon and burn the grease laden paper towels (good starter for a fire in our BBQ pit), but more often fry it and pour the grease (when cooled slightly) into a plastic container in the freezer for adding to eggs and other dishes as seasoning at a later time. It's a valuable resource.
My sister once drove my grandmother 3 hrs to visit one of her granddaughter and her family. Lisa made lunch a lasagna. The kitchen counters where covered in old food spills the sink stacked with dirty dishes, flys buzzing around on the middle of kitchen counter was a large bottle of roach spray My grandma took one look and said take me home i don't even want to sit down. My cousin then had the nerve to badmouth my grandma
I do the same most of the time, makes really crisp bacon and the bacon drippings are saved for future use. Bonus is you don't get spat at when turning it over when frying in a pan.
Oh sorry...the question was about eating food from dirty kitchens. My sister is nasty. But that's because she refuses to wear eyeglasses. She won't speak to me anymore, so I don't have to deal with that these days.
I don't know anyone else here in SC.
Sounds like that kitchen must have been a horror show! Dog hair, clutter, dust, even dishes in sink I could deal with, but when insects are flying/running rampant I would draw the line!