I recently acquired two additional knives for the kitchen. My wife's recurring question every time this happens is, of course, "Don't you already have enough knives in the kitchen"? My fall back answer is always referencing my woodworking hobby by invoking the old mantra - there is always one special tool for everything. So far, I've been getting away with that disjointed logic. Disjointed to most but not to me, naturally.
The new smaller veggie knife in the photo below is for slicing the small stuff, i.e. cherry tomatoes, small fruits. or for cutting thin pieces of meat, shrimp and fish. That's my reason and I quote Mrs. Slocum's total adamance with, "And I am unanimous with that!" from the long erstwhile British sitcom - "Are You Being Served".
However, I am not disagreeing with the fact that the bigger veggie will do all those things just as capably. But because the smaller knife's blade is thinner, it is razor sharp. Oh, well.
Moving on to the next photo below, on the right is a most recent paring knife.
It's got a thin wider blade that begged for a special application. What it lacked for a convincing argument I provided with, "Hmm.. interesting".
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The question that followed was, "Should I make a special knife stand for them as I have with all the other knives?"
Years ago I made two knife stands - one for a heavy cleaver and another for a smaller but thinner cleaver together with a vegetable knife, shown below. The "afterthought" project was to simply add on to the existing knife stand and make it look like it was there all along and not look like an add-on part.
This is light woodworking but heavy on accuracy 😉as I created the channel on hardwood pieces.
The glue up is straightforward.
Now, it looks like the add-on was there all along with the original project.
From the previous blog, "Chopsticks for the Dexterity-Challenged", I found better uses for them aside from using them for eating. I use them during cooking, particularly for fried rice and noodles "for two" (small portion-cooking for just my wife and me) and for turning over thin pieces on the frying pan. You say, "Regular tongs will work, right?" But where's the "intently elegance" if not with bamboo sticks. Actually, I find that the chopsticks make for thorough mixing of the fried rice and noodles that tongs or even forks do not provide. And I am "unanimous with that".
By the way, these chopsticks are particularly good at holding on to slices of watermelon or cantaloupe by pressing on the two sticks ever so lightly before stabbing the sliced fruit with it. The slight spring-back-tension will hold the slice more securely than stabbing the fruit with a fork (with the inevitable possibility of slippage).
Now, I think, learning to use standard chopsticks is still a worthy challenge. Next to the photo below is probably the best way to do it, if you haven't used them before.
Hold the lower chopstick between the thumb joint and ring finger like so. Hold the upper chopstick between the tip of your thumb, the middle and the index fingers as shown. The upper chopstick can be moved up and down while the lower chopstick stays steady. That way you focus only on moving one stick which makes hand/eye coordination a lot easier.
Now, for another of "afterthoughts", I use the "chopsticks for the dexterity challenged" during some of the cooking process, i.e., for mixing bihon (a Chinese/Filipino dish) and fried rice or turning over small pieces, like in frying ham, for example.
Below is another afterthought. We usually stab slices of watermelon or cantaloupe with a fork. What I do is press just ever so slightly the two sticks just enough for a mild tension before stabbing. The slight spring tension created once it's in (even for meat) secures the slices better than with a fork. Again, I am "unanimous with that". 😏
What about reconditioning wooden cutting boards? Yes, these kitchen "tools" are often ignored. Afterthoughts are to have them reconditioned with beeswax or ordinary cooking oil. Critical to keep the wood surface coated with oil to prevent bacteria from populating it and for easy clean up. It, of course, preserves the wood.
Afterthoughts, like I said.
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