OT: Kitchen Tongs

The latter (assuming they have the right amount of springiness).

The feel is more intuitive. Pressure is always on the inside surfaces of your fingers/hand -- never the *outside* (e.g., "top" side as is the case when opening the "scissors")

In the context of pasta, a "serving fork" (or chopsticks!) seems to work best for "long noodles" (fettuccine, linguine, spaghetti(ni), vermicelli, capellini, some fusilli, bigoli, bucatini, etc.)

Note that adding ground beef tends to suck all the flavor out of the sauce. I.e., you have to dramatically increase the flavorings to overcome the beef's ability to "neutralize" (absorb) them.

Boo; hiss! -----------^^^^^^^^^^ :>

Try Aglio e olio sometime -- when you *don't* have an face-to-face meetings scheduled! :>

The first are better - more feel, which you'll appreciate being a hand-tool user. But, be prepared to replace the rather s**te rivet hinge with a stainless bolt, some washers and a Nylock nut or similar.

Cheers

The first one, for sure.

One of my favorite things in life is my toaster tongs. I think they are bamboo, like a giant pair of flat wooden tweezers, or maybe kiddie trainer chopsticks sort of concept thing.

John

I like these ones:

Here's another similar type that uses silicone rather than nylon:

Cooking chopsticks (the oversize kind) are handy too.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Some like one, some like the other. pick them both up in the shop, see which one feels better. Some just prefer a fork & serving spoon.

yuck

h...

...and if not rubber tipped, you can use them on the BBQ grill too. The scissors-type may end up putting some grill marks on your hands!

I have a pair of the OXO brand mentioned previously. Very nice kitchen utensil.

Forget the envelope. Walmart/Sam's Club has Tone's Spicy Spaghetti Mix which costs (per serving) about 10% the cost of the envelope mix.

1 tablespoon minced garlic from the one quart bulk jar

Forget the tomato sauce. One large can diced tomators, one large can crushed tomatos.

I find that WHOLE tomatoes in a can taste much better. Something about cutting them makes them loose flavor more quickly. You can loosely cut the tomatoes before you dump them in, if you like. And always buy the "un-doctored" whole tomatoes - not the Italian Spiced ones.

...

Forget all that. Grate some extra sharp cheddar, dump on hot pasta, eat. Grate on a bit of black pepper, perhaps, some days.

Or, thaw a cube or three of home-made pesto, dump on hot pasta, eat.

The first type (in my experience) is slippery, so I prefer the second (tongsavers). Alas, the 'tongsavers' type is also good for salad, which means I have a pair semipermanently on duty for gutter cleaning (leaves in a pungent sauce :== salad).

Re sauce: Where are the onions and garlic?

George H.

Yeah! that's what I use, whole tomatoes, and you squish each by hand as you add 'em to the sauce.

George H.

Black pepper is better cooked in.

pliers:

Oh, forgot all about them! Usually, when I'm browning the burger, I throw in a teaspoon or so of dried onion flakes, and the mix in the packet seems to have enough garlic to satisfy my taste. :-)

One of these days, however, I'm going to cut up a real onion!

Cheers! Rich

My Goodness! It's practically unanimous!

Thanks, Don Y, George Herold, John Fields, mpm, John Larkin, NT, RST Engineering, Ecnerwal, krw@bzzat, Spehro Pefhany, Syd Rumpo, and whit3rd, albeit whit3rd cast the lone dissenting vote. (That's the kind my Mom and Dad always used, but on America's Test Kitchen, they use the tweezer style.)

Now, since we've proved that democracy works, shall we vote on what everybody's favorite color is? >:->

Thanks! Rich

Too bad they have stopped carrying 'Tone's Lime Pepper'. :(

I find that fresh, home grown San Marzano tomatoes are the best. Slice the ends off, and cut them in quarters, lengthwise. The skins come off when they are properly cooked, and float to the top for easy removal.

Definately! You also need less of it if it's cooked in, properly.