"Phred" > wrote

> But to return to the topic -- I was taught to use fork in left and
> knife in right if the stuff needs cutting. And we don't chop it all
> then eat like you do; we cut a bit off and stuff that down before
> cutting off another bit.

Who cuts up all their food at once? I don't know if it's
bad manners or just frowned upon, but usually you just cut
off your next bite. Cutting up the whole thing at once is what
parents do for their small children.

nancy

In article >, "Nancy Young" > wrote:
>
>"Phred" > wrote
>
>> But to return to the topic -- I was taught to use fork in left and
>> knife in right if the stuff needs cutting. And we don't chop it all
>> then eat like you do; we cut a bit off and stuff that down before
>> cutting off another bit.
>
>Who cuts up all their food at once? I don't know if it's
>bad manners or just frowned upon, but usually you just cut
>off your next bite. Cutting up the whole thing at once is what
>parents do for their small children.

G'day Nance,

I'm happy to be shown I'm wrong, but the impression we have here in Oz
is that "Americans" chop stuff up, then switch the fork to the other
hand to shovel the bits into the mouth. Are you saying they do this
one bite at a time? Or have I got my ethnics mixed?

Cheers, Phred.

--
LID

"Phred" > wrote

> "Nancy Young" > wrote:
>>
>>"Phred" > wrote
>>
>>> But to return to the topic -- I was taught to use fork in left and
>>> knife in right if the stuff needs cutting. And we don't chop it all
>>> then eat like you do; we cut a bit off and stuff that down before
>>> cutting off another bit.
>>
>>Who cuts up all their food at once? I don't know if it's
>>bad manners or just frowned upon, but usually you just cut
>>off your next bite. Cutting up the whole thing at once is what
>>parents do for their small children.

> I'm happy to be shown I'm wrong, but the impression we have here in Oz
> is that "Americans" chop stuff up, then switch the fork to the other
> hand to shovel the bits into the mouth. Are you saying they do this
> one bite at a time? Or have I got my ethnics mixed?

Since you were responding to Chatty, I thought maybe you meant
that's what they did in SA, I hope you didn't take the question
as snotty. No, you cut one bite at a time. That's why we are
talking about switching, we keep switching back and forth. I know
it sounds awkward, but I don't find it to be, since that's how I was
raised.

nancy

Phred wrote:
>
> I'm happy to be shown I'm wrong, but the impression we have here in Oz
> is that "Americans" chop stuff up, then switch the fork to the other
> hand to shovel the bits into the mouth. Are you saying they do this
> one bite at a time? Or have I got my ethnics mixed?


Standard procedure is to put the fork in the left and knife in the
right. Cut one bite of food. Put the knife on the side of the plate,
switch the fork to the right, put the left in the lap, then put one bite
of food in the mouth. Chew slowly with mouth closed while returning
cutlery to their original fork in left, knife in right positions and
repeat. This thread shows that's not the only way Americans do it, but
that's standard for a great many of us. You can see why it's considered
awkward if you're not used to it. It's an awful lot of moving the
silverware around, but that's the way I learned, and it's very normal
and ordinary for most of us.


--Lia

"Julia Altshuler" > wrote

> Phred wrote:
>>
>> I'm happy to be shown I'm wrong, but the impression we have here in Oz is
>> that "Americans" chop stuff up, then switch the fork to the other hand to
>> shovel the bits into the mouth. Are you saying they do this one bite at
>> a time? Or have I got my ethnics mixed?

> Standard procedure is to put the fork in the left and knife in the right.
> Cut one bite of food. Put the knife on the side of the plate, switch the
> fork to the right, put the left in the lap, then put one bite of food in
> the mouth.

That's not to say there aren't people out there who might cut up
their whole steak(whatever) at once, it's just not what I do or
anyone I've ever observed eating do.

nancy

On Aug 5, 2:05 pm, "Dee Dee" > wrote:
> "ChattyCathy" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
> > Julia Altshuler wrote:
>
> >> I wish there were a way on the survey to trace who is from where and who
> >> switches their fork back and forth.
>
> > Well I would be so bold as to hazard a guess from the number if votes for
> > "switching" and the number of votes for "USA" that the majority of
> > "switchers" were born in the USA.
> > --
> > Cheers
> > Chatty Cathy
>
> I keep my fork in my left hand. Born in the USA.
> Perhaps I'm in the minority --
> Dee Dee

Are you left-handed? I'd be willing to place a small wager that most
Americans who don't switch are southpaws. (I am, and I don't switch.)

Cindy Hamilton

On Aug 6, 4:41 am, Omelet > wrote:
> In article
> >,
> Dan Abel > wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > In article >,
> > Julia Altshuler > wrote:
>
> > > I wish there were a way on the survey to trace who is from where and who
> > > switches their fork back and forth. I'm from the U.S. and learned the
> > > switching method: fork goes in left hand to cut, then in the right hand
> > > to bring the food to the mouth. Jim's from Canada. He learned the
> > > non-switching method: fork stays in left for cutting and transporting.
> > > I always feel like an idiot when dining with his family. Their method
> > > is so efficient and neat, but when I've tried to learn it, I find it
> > > tricky. It would take practice. (His family has never said a word
> > > about my manners or lack. It's just 2 methods, both acceptable.)
>
> > Sometimes people forget just how hard it is to change which hand is used
> > for what. Try writing with your other hand! I've seen this with mice,
> > also. Not the animal, the computer tracking device. People who try to
> > use their non-dominant hand to drive the mouse look very incompetent. I
> > worked with an accountant like that. He worked there a long time. His
> > right hand was reserved for his ten key, and he was good at it. He
> > didn't have to look at the keys, he knew them by touch. As accounting
> > got more and more computerized, and navigation got more mouse-driven, he
> > had more and more problems trying to use the mouse with his left hand.
> > His subordinates would sometimes order him out of his chair and do the
> > computer work themselves because they couldn't stand to watch him fumble
> > around.
>
> Handedness has to do with the dominant side of the brain, or so I was
> told in Human A&P class.
>
> The one time I tried to force myself to write with my left hand (in that
> very class), not only did it not go very well, I found myself unable to
> speak for about 5 minutes.
>
> It was weird, and frightening.

I think most left-handers are more ambidextrous than right-handers.
I've
been forced to write with my non-dominant hand a couple of times
(injuries,
etc.), and while cumbersome it was not disconcerting.

Except for writing, I tend to do things the way I was taught by right-
handers.
I bat, knit, and use a mouse or scissors right-handed. When preparing
food in the kitchen, I use the knife in my left hand, but when eating
food
at the table I use my right hand for the knife.

I'm right-eye dominant, so I shoot right-handed, too. Of course, I
was taught to shoot by a rightie.

Maybe I'm not really a leftie at all. Hmmm. Maybe I'm just confused.

Cindy Hamilton

"Cindy Hamilton" > wrote

> Maybe I'm not really a leftie at all. Hmmm. Maybe I'm just confused.

Maybe you're some kind of leftie wannabe.

nancy

In article >,
Julia Altshuler > wrote:

> Phred wrote:
> >
> > I'm happy to be shown I'm wrong, but the impression we have here in Oz
> > is that "Americans" chop stuff up, then switch the fork to the other
> > hand to shovel the bits into the mouth. Are you saying they do this
> > one bite at a time? Or have I got my ethnics mixed?
>
>
> Standard procedure is to put the fork in the left and knife in the
> right. Cut one bite of food. Put the knife on the side of the plate,
> switch the fork to the right, put the left in the lap, then put one bite
> of food in the mouth. Chew slowly with mouth closed while returning
> cutlery to their original fork in left, knife in right positions and
> repeat. This thread shows that's not the only way Americans do it, but
> that's standard for a great many of us. You can see why it's considered
> awkward if you're not used to it. It's an awful lot of moving the
> silverware around, but that's the way I learned, and it's very normal
> and ordinary for most of us.
>
>
> --Lia

Agreed.

I don't even think about doing it. Habits ingrained for 40+ years.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

In article . com>,
Cindy Hamilton > wrote:

> I'm right-eye dominant, so I shoot right-handed, too. Of course, I
> was taught to shoot by a rightie.
>
> Maybe I'm not really a leftie at all. Hmmm. Maybe I'm just confused.
>
> Cindy Hamilton

Interestingly enough, I've found I don't have a dominant eye.
If I shoot one handed right handed, I use my right eye. Shooting is the
one place I am ambidextrous. If I shoot one handed left, I use my left
eye.

And my accuracy does not suffer.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

>
> I'm happy to be shown I'm wrong, but the impression we have here in Oz
> is that "Americans" chop stuff up, then switch the fork to the other
> hand to shovel the bits into the mouth. Are you saying they do this
> one bite at a time? Or have I got my ethnics mixed?
>
> Cheers, Phred.
>

There is a phrase that I use (as an American) to answer a person who is
always saying "we" when he/she speaks for others, or for that matter, a
whole nation as you do here

"What's the matter, got a toad in your pocket"?

Where the hell is Oz anyway?

Just another dumb, uncouth American,
Dee Dee

Phred wrote:

> I'm happy to be shown I'm wrong, but the impression we have here in Oz
> is that "Americans" chop stuff up, then switch the fork to the other
> hand to shovel the bits into the mouth. Are you saying they do this
> one bite at a time? Or have I got my ethnics mixed?
>
> Cheers, Phred.
>
People with good manners never cut up all their food at once. What a
barbaric way to eat. The only exception to this rule is when parents are
known to cut up their kids food for them and let them at it, so they too
can sit down and enjoy their own meal.

On Aug 5, 8:56 am, ChattyCathy > wrote:
> Nancy Young wrote:
>
> > I switch. 99% of the time, anyway.
>
> Isn't that a bit "time consuming"? I use my fork in my left hand, and my
> knife in my right - always. Never had the need to switch them around to
> eat my food...
>
> And I should have asked the contributor to add one more question:
>
> When "laying the table" for dinner - where do you place the knife and
> fork?
>
> Fork on the left and knife on the right
The correct way of course

> Knife on the left and fork on the right
Herasy!!
>
> Where do *you* place them?
>
> --
> Cheers
> Chatty Cathy
>
> Garlic: the element without which life as we know it would be impossible

On Aug 5, 10:01 am, Julia Altshuler > wrote:
> ChattyCathy wrote:
>
> > Well I would be so bold as to hazard a guess from the number if votes
> > for "switching" and the number of votes for "USA" that the majority of
> > "switchers" were born in the USA.
>
> Agreed. (I reread my post and see that it could be interpreted as a
> criticism of the survey. I didn't mean it that way.) I'm curious about
> the exceptions, if there are any. For table manners, Canada follows the
> British model. For driving, Canada follows the U.S. model. For miles
> and measurement, Canada does it like Europe. For speech and spelling,
> it's a blend. So I was wondering if there are folks from Canada who use
> either method depending on whom they're dining with or what the
> influences are on their table manners.

Me miss me!! Of course an American mother may have mucked up my folk
skills.

John Kane, Kingston ON Canada
>
> I'm curious about how we learn these things. I don't recall my parents
> ever showing me how a knife and fork were used specifically. They'd
> correct me at the table if I did anything overtly disgusting, but they
> were lax about specifics. I do remember a time in elementary school
> when I was eating with a friend. I was holding my fork in my left fist
> and having trouble managing the meat. My friend's mother showed me how
> to hold the fork correctly. Other than that, I think I learned
> everything from observation. Now it's so ingrained that I'd have
> trouble using another method.
>
> --Lia

On Aug 5, 11:33 am, Sky > wrote:
> Julia Altshuler wrote:
> > (snipperdoodles)
>
> > I'm curious about how we learn these things. I don't recall my parents
> > ever showing me how a knife and fork were used specifically. They'd
> > correct me at the table if I did anything overtly disgusting, but they
> > were lax about specifics. I do remember a time in elementary school
> > when I was eating with a friend. I was holding my fork in my left fist
> > and having trouble managing the meat. My friend's mother showed me how
> > to hold the fork correctly. Other than that, I think I learned
> > everything from observation. Now it's so ingrained that I'd have
> > trouble using another method.
>
> > --Lia
>
> I recall being told to switch hands with my knife and fork. Knife in
> left hand, fork in right, then cut the food. Then switch the fork to
> the right hand and eat. That always seemed inefficient to me, but as a
> kid when I tried to eat European style with the fork in my left hand (I
> had copied a recent European house guest), my grandmother made point to
> correct me. I always did what my grandmother told me to do as a kid,
> especially at her dinner table <g>.

We had British friends and my American mother was rather horrified at
the fork in the left hand approach.
John Kane, Kingston ON Canada

In article >, "Dee Dee" > wrote:
>>
>> I'm happy to be shown I'm wrong, but the impression we have here in Oz
>> is that "Americans" chop stuff up, then switch the fork to the other
>> hand to shovel the bits into the mouth. Are you saying they do this
>> one bite at a time? Or have I got my ethnics mixed?
>
>There is a phrase that I use (as an American) to answer a person who is
>always saying "we" when he/she speaks for others, or for that matter, a
>whole nation as you do here
>
>"What's the matter, got a toad in your pocket"?
>
>Where the hell is Oz anyway?
>
>Just another dumb, uncouth American,
>Dee Dee

Well I can only agree with you there. Though perhaps "ignorant"
rather than "dumb" would be more accurate? (Just giving you the
benefit of the doubt.)

I guess your problem dates from the Boston Tea Party -- you no longer
recognise the Royal plural when you see one. ;-)

Cheers, Phred.

--
LID

On Aug 6, 10:03?am, Goomba38 > wrote:
> Phred wrote:
> > I'm happy to be shown I'm wrong, but the impression we have here in Oz
> > is that "Americans" chop stuff up, then switch the fork to the other
> > hand to shovel the bits into the mouth. Are you saying they do this
> > one bite at a time? Or have I got my ethnics mixed?
>
> > Cheers, Phred.
>
> People with good manners never cut up all their food at once. What a
> barbaric way to eat. The only exception to this rule is when parents are
> known to cut up their kids food for them and let them at it, so they too
> can sit down and enjoy their own meal.

Depends on "good manners" where.

Most of the world uses no knives at the table and no forks either...
most of the world would find a knife at the table beyond rude, they'd
consider that extremely hostile. In fact most of the world uses no
other eating utensils but their fingers.


Sheldon

John Kane said...

>> Fork on the left and knife on the right
> The correct way of course
>
>> Knife on the left and fork on the right
> Herasy!!


Yepper!!!

If God had wanted me to use a fork in my right hand and knife in my left, he
should've at least had the decency to set the table that way. <VBG>

Andy

In article >, Julia Altshuler > wrote:
>Phred wrote:
>>
>> I'm happy to be shown I'm wrong, but the impression we have here in Oz
>> is that "Americans" chop stuff up, then switch the fork to the other
>> hand to shovel the bits into the mouth. Are you saying they do this
>> one bite at a time? Or have I got my ethnics mixed?
>
>Standard procedure is to put the fork in the left and knife in the
>right. Cut one bite of food. Put the knife on the side of the plate,
>switch the fork to the right, put the left in the lap, then put one bite
>of food in the mouth. Chew slowly with mouth closed while returning
>cutlery to their original fork in left, knife in right positions and
>repeat. This thread shows that's not the only way Americans do it, but
>that's standard for a great many of us. You can see why it's considered
>awkward if you're not used to it. It's an awful lot of moving the
>silverware around, but that's the way I learned, and it's very normal
>and ordinary for most of us.

Ah... Thanks for that explanation, Lia. It really is an interesting
variation on methods of feeding. I wonder how it is that you folk do
that and we in Oz (and, I think, Kiwiland) don't? [Not sure about the
Anglo tribe in South Africa (or in Pommerania itself for that matter).
It's over 35 years since I was there and I've no recall at all as to
how they did it -- though that may simply indicate it was the same as
here, so I didn't notice.]

Another difference: We [sorry to confuse you Dee Dee, this is NOT a
Royal plural, it's just referring to myself and several mates] went a
bit hungry when in the USA 30 years ago until we realised that until
you ate your bloody salad the buggers wouldn't serve your main course!
Here in Oz [at least in the parts I inhabit, Dee Dee] we [that's all
of us in those parts] would either have the salad on the plate with
the rump steak or whatever, or served simultaneously as a side dish.

Cheers, Phred.

--
LID

In article >,
says...
>
> "Phred" > wrote
>
> > "Nancy Young" > wrote:
> >>
> >>"Phred" > wrote
> >>
> >>> But to return to the topic -- I was taught to use fork in left and
> >>> knife in right if the stuff needs cutting. And we don't chop it all
> >>> then eat like you do; we cut a bit off and stuff that down before
> >>> cutting off another bit.
> >>
> >>Who cuts up all their food at once? I don't know if it's
> >>bad manners or just frowned upon, but usually you just cut
> >>off your next bite. Cutting up the whole thing at once is what
> >>parents do for their small children.
>
> > I'm happy to be shown I'm wrong, but the impression we have here in Oz
> > is that "Americans" chop stuff up, then switch the fork to the other
> > hand to shovel the bits into the mouth. Are you saying they do this
> > one bite at a time? Or have I got my ethnics mixed?
>
> Since you were responding to Chatty, I thought maybe you meant
> that's what they did in SA, I hope you didn't take the question
> as snotty. No, you cut one bite at a time. That's why we are
> talking about switching, we keep switching back and forth. I know
> it sounds awkward, but I don't find it to be, since that's how I was
> raised.
>

I have been trying to adopt the "European" system simply to avoid all
the switching between hands. I find that with the fork in my left hand I
can do the simpler things, such as spearing a piece of chicken or
tomato, but some things - for example, buttered peas - still require the
greater dexterity of my right hand.

--
Peter Aitken

Peter A said...

> I have been trying to adopt the "European" system simply to avoid all
> the switching between hands. I find that with the fork in my left hand I
> can do the simpler things, such as spearing a piece of chicken or
> tomato, but some things - for example, buttered peas - still require the
> greater dexterity of my right hand.


But you still use your spoon for peas, right?!?

Andy
Pea Spooner

Phred wrote:
It really is an interesting
> variation on methods of feeding. I wonder how it is that you folk do
> that and we in Oz (and, I think, Kiwiland) don't?


I'm no expert on the history of table manners. I do recall reading an
Emily Post etiquette book that came out just after WWII. In it, she
decries the "new" American system of switching the fork to the right to
bring the food to the mouth. She called it ridiculous. I don't have
the book in front of me, but I seem to remember something along those
lines. If my memory of the book is correct, the American way was a fad
that caught on in relatively recent memory.


--Lia

One thing I've noticed with my friend who was born and raised in
England, is that she not only holds her fork in her left hand and knife
in her right (never switching), she rests the fork "upside down" on the
plate and uses the knife to push the food onto the "back" of the fork
and puts the fork into her mouth upside down. Is this typical of
European eating too?

Denise
http://community.webtv.net/DeniseJG/
My QI

In article .com>,
Sheldon > wrote:

> In fact most of the world uses no
> other eating utensils but their fingers.
>
>
> Sheldon

Same goes for bathroom utensils.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

In article >,
Goomba38 > wrote:


> People with good manners never cut up all their food at once. What a
> barbaric way to eat.

This is a worldwide newsgroup, and manners vary by country. In some
countries it is bad manners to serve food that needs to be cut at the
table. The cook is expected to cut all food into pieces before serving.
Knives and forks are not even present at the table.

Andy wrote on Mon, 06 Aug 2007 10:17:37 -0500:

??>> I have been trying to adopt the "European" system simply
??>> to avoid all the switching between hands. I find that with
??>> the fork in my left hand I can do the simpler things, such
??>> as spearing a piece of chicken or tomato, but some things
??>> - for example, buttered peas - still require the greater
??>> dexterity of my right hand.

A> But you still use your spoon for peas, right?!?

I always eat my peas with honey;

I've done it all my life.

They do taste kind of funny

But it keeps them on my knife.



- Anonymous ...


James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

Denise in NH said...

> she rests the fork "upside down" on the
> plate and uses the knife to push the food onto the "back" of the fork
> and puts the fork into her mouth upside down. Is this typical of
> European eating too?


Denise,

I've read about stabbing foods with the fork and bringing it to the mouth
with the fork facing down but putting items on the back of the fork seems
like lots of accidents waiting to happen. I wouldn't dream of using either
technique.

That probably explains why my black tie invites are at an all time low? <G>

Andy

In article . com>,
Cindy Hamilton > wrote:


> I'm right-eye dominant, so I shoot right-handed, too. Of course, I
> was taught to shoot by a rightie.
>
> Maybe I'm not really a leftie at all. Hmmm. Maybe I'm just confused.

I'm confused also. I've given up shooting. Both my wife and I are
strongly right-handed, and left eyed.

In article
>,
Dan Abel > wrote:

> I've given up shooting.

Why?
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

On Sun, 05 Aug 2007 18:30:35 GMT, "James Silverton"
> wrote:

> Dee wrote on Sun, 5 Aug 2007 14:05:39 -0400:
>
>
> DD> "ChattyCathy" > wrote in message
> DD> ...
> ??>> Julia Altshuler wrote:
> ??>>
> ??>>> I wish there were a way on the survey to trace who is
> ??>>> from where and who switches their fork back and forth.
> ??>>
> ??>> Well I would be so bold as to hazard a guess from the
> ??>> number if votes for "switching" and the number of votes
> ??>> for "USA" that the majority of "switchers" were born in
> ??>> the USA. -- Cheers Chatty Cathy
> ??>>
>
>I guess I'm a switcher and, as I have said, I was brought up in
>Scotland.
>
>While citations are missing, I think this wikipedia article is
>in agreement with what I was taught:-
>
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fork_etiquette
>
>James Silverton

[from the wikipedia article]

To avoid the constant switching of the fork, it is common to see some
people cut up multiple pieces of food at once before switching hands
and eating, though this is not considered completely proper.

jeez, i thought it was only improper if you cut up *all* the food at
once. i cut a couple pieces at a time, then switch. here i come to
find out from wikipedia that i'm a slob.

your pal,
abner

"Denise in NH" > wrote in message
...
> One thing I've noticed with my friend who was born and raised in
> England, is that she not only holds her fork in her left hand and knife
> in her right (never switching), she rests the fork "upside down" on the
> plate and uses the knife to push the food onto the "back" of the fork
> and puts the fork into her mouth upside down. Is this typical of
> European eating too?


I believe so. It seems like a very efficient way of eating, but I am
extremely right handed . . .

Dan Abel wrote:
> In article >,
> Goomba38 > wrote:
>
>
>> People with good manners never cut up all their food at once. What a
>> barbaric way to eat.
>
> This is a worldwide newsgroup, and manners vary by country. In some
> countries it is bad manners to serve food that needs to be cut at the
> table. The cook is expected to cut all food into pieces before serving.
> Knives and forks are not even present at the table.

Exactly Dan. *Some* people around here seem to forget that r.f.c. is
indeed a world-wide group, or even that the Earth is round, for that
matter...
--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy

Garlic: the element without which life as we know it would be impossible

"Denise in NH" > wrote in message
...
> One thing I've noticed with my friend who was born and raised in
> England, is that she not only holds her fork in her left hand and knife
> in her right (never switching), she rests the fork "upside down" on the
> plate and uses the knife to push the food onto the "back" of the fork
> and puts the fork into her mouth upside down. Is this typical of
> European eating too?

Yes

Andy wrote:
> Denise in NH said...
>
>> she rests the fork "upside down" on the
>> plate and uses the knife to push the food onto the "back" of the fork
>> and puts the fork into her mouth upside down. Is this typical of
>> European eating too?
>
>
> Denise,
>
> I've read about stabbing foods with the fork and bringing it to the mouth
> with the fork facing down but putting items on the back of the fork seems
> like lots of accidents waiting to happen. I wouldn't dream of using either
> technique.
>
> That probably explains why my black tie invites are at an all time low? <G>
>
> Andy


Yes, but she forgot to say that the diner has to be eating while
standing on his head, with only one hand supporting him, so that the
food does not slide off the back of the fork. If it does, in spite of
all, the other hand is used to stop the sliding food from falling off. )

Andy, once you master this maneuver, your mail box will be stuffed to
the limit with black tie invitations.

"Phred" > wrote in message
...
> Another difference: We [sorry to confuse you Dee Dee, this is NOT a
> Royal plural, it's just referring to myself and several mates] went a
> bit hungry when in the USA 30 years ago until we realised that until
> you ate your bloody salad the buggers wouldn't serve your main course!

ROFLMAO

On Mon, 06 Aug 2007 03:48:02 -0500, Omelet >
wrote:

>In article >, Andy <q> wrote:
>
>> James Silverton said...
>>
>> > Some use a spoon and fork, some just use the fork in the
>> > preferred hand :-) As I recently mentioned, confirmed spoon and
>> > fork users like the Thais sometimes use chopsticks for noodles.
>> > They work well for spaghetti too as I can confirm.
>>
>>
>> I don't doubt it! I just can't picture myself mastering spaghetti with
>> chopsticks! Well maybe a strand at a time.
>>
>> Andy
>
>You can do like my nephews do and just use fingers for noodles. <G>
>Gotta take yesterdays dinner pics off the camera...

i first read that as 'gotta take yesterday's dinner off the camera...'

your pal,
blake

On Mon, 6 Aug 2007 12:02:59 -0400, (Denise in NH)
wrote:

>One thing I've noticed with my friend who was born and raised in
>England, is that she not only holds her fork in her left hand and knife
>in her right (never switching), she rests the fork "upside down" on the
>plate and uses the knife to push the food onto the "back" of the fork
>and puts the fork into her mouth upside down. Is this typical of
>European eating too?

It sounds perfectly normal to me! The food is either impaled on the
tines of the fork if it's something that'll roll away (like peas) or
chunks like meat... or if it's squishy like mashed potato then it's
just kind of pushed on there. Ideally your forkful is a combination -
stab the meat, squish some potato on top of it and use the potato to
cement a few pieces of vegetable so you can eat them all at once. The
American 'shovelling' method seems grossly inefficient to me! I grew
up only using the fork that way if we were eating something that
didn't need to be cut up (like risotto or fried rice) - otherwise the
knife goes in the right hand and the fork goes in the left and you use
them simultaneously.

On Sun, 05 Aug 2007 17:57:50 -0400, Goomba38 >
wrote:

>blake murphy wrote:
>
>> if i'm not mistaken, knife in one hand, fork in the other is the
>> 'continental,' or european method. 'switching' is american. but i'm
>> not miss manners by a long shot. my usual table setting features
>> paper towels for napkins.
>>
>> your pal,
>> blake
>
>You are not mistaken. And your table manners at our Ethiopian dinner
>were perfect

none of this confusing knife and fork business...

your pal,
blake

On Sun, 05 Aug 2007 16:36:15 -0500, Andy <q> wrote:

>jmcquown said...
>
>> Michael "Dog3" Lonergan wrote:
>>> Sheldon > dropped this turd
>>> news:1186316213.674491.326140 @m37g2000prh.googlegroups.com: in
>>> rec.food.cooking
>>>
>>>> On Aug 5, 8:05?am, ChattyCathy > wrote:
>>>>> http://www.recfoodcooking.com
>>>>>
>>>>> Vote now! (or not)
>>>>
>>>> I win a beanie!
>>>>
>>>> Sheldon
>>>
>>> Hmmmm... I wonder if Cathy has a tin foil hat like the ones they use
>>> for the electric chair hee, hee.
>>>
>>> Michael
>>
>> I'm waiting to see the Tinfoil Beanie with the propeller on top
>
>
>AHEM!
>
>http://www.recfoodcooking.com/images/tfbeaniecap.jpg
>
>Andy

now that would be worth having.

in another internet realm, i am sometimes known as 'monsignor murphy.'
much sport is made of my tinfoil miter.

your pal,
blake

margaret suran said...

> Andy wrote:
>> Denise in NH said...
>>
>>> she rests the fork "upside down" on the
>>> plate and uses the knife to push the food onto the "back" of the fork
>>> and puts the fork into her mouth upside down. Is this typical of
>>> European eating too?
>>
>>
>> Denise,
>>
>> I've read about stabbing foods with the fork and bringing it to the
>> mouth with the fork facing down but putting items on the back of the
>> fork seems like lots of accidents waiting to happen. I wouldn't dream
>> of using either technique.
>>
>> That probably explains why my black tie invites are at an all time low?
>> <G>
>>
>> Andy
>
>
> Yes, but she forgot to say that the diner has to be eating while
> standing on his head, with only one hand supporting him, so that the
> food does not slide off the back of the fork. If it does, in spite of
> all, the other hand is used to stop the sliding food from falling off.
> )
>
> Andy, once you master this maneuver, your mail box will be stuffed to
> the limit with black tie invitations.


Oh! I can do THAT!!! <VBG>

Andy