On 11/20/2013 11:00 PM, Polly Esther wrote:
> We are blessed with grandchildren who are setting up new homes and, of
> course, kitchens. I've been thinking about what kitchen Christmas gift
> would be useful and realized that I frequently reach for a 'steak
> knife'. Not many steaks served here and I don't know if these young ones
> 'do' steak very often either. The question - if I ever get to the point
> - can any one recommend a set of steak knives that they've bought
> recently and can recommend?

A little late to the thread, but...

No recommendation about steak knives. I can't imagine finding myself
"frequently reaching for a 'steak knife'". Myself and most people I
know only use them when eating plated steak. Since you don't know if
the grandkids even eat steak often... well, I wouldn't consider that a
useful gift.

Here's a thought. Ask them what they'd like "Santa" to bring them for
their kitchens.

> Also - my favorite for everything cooking big spoon is marked Utica
> Cut Co USA. When it is busy, I feel deprived and use something else.
> What is your best favorite reach-for cooking spoon? Polly
>
I most often use wooden spoons. I have a lot of them with varying
handle lengths to handle pots of different depths. One is slotted, the
other with a hole in the middle.

Jill

"jmcquown" <> No recommendation about steak knives. I can't imagine finding
myself
> "frequently reaching for a 'steak knife'". Myself and most people I know
> only use them when eating plated steak. Since you don't know if the
> grandkids even eat steak often... well, I wouldn't consider that a useful
> gift.
Jill

Ah, now, Jill. You were that young once. They'll probably use the steak
knives for opening a stubborn sack of Cheerios, slicing the wrapper on a new
cd, scraping tar off the Welcome mat. Just no telling. Polly

On Fri, 22 Nov 2013 21:52:55 -0600, "Polly Esther"
> wrote:

>
>"jmcquown" <> No recommendation about steak knives. I can't imagine finding
>myself
>> "frequently reaching for a 'steak knife'". Myself and most people I know
>> only use them when eating plated steak. Since you don't know if the
>> grandkids even eat steak often... well, I wouldn't consider that a useful
>> gift.
>Jill
>
>Ah, now, Jill. You were that young once. They'll probably use the steak
>knives for opening a stubborn sack of Cheerios, slicing the wrapper on a new
>cd, scraping tar off the Welcome mat. Just no telling. Polly

Very true. shudder. We gave them a lovely chefs knife and a
wonderful box cutter. Guess which one was used to open the packing
box?
Janet US

On 11/22/2013 10:52 PM, Polly Esther wrote:
>
> "jmcquown" <> No recommendation about steak knives. I can't imagine
> finding myself
>> "frequently reaching for a 'steak knife'". Myself and most people I
>> know only use them when eating plated steak. Since you don't know if
>> the grandkids even eat steak often... well, I wouldn't consider that a
>> useful gift.
> Jill
>
> Ah, now, Jill. You were that young once.

I certainly was. I also started purchasing small kitchen items when I
was about 18. I knew I wouldn't live at home forever. Steak knives
were not high on my priority list. A collander, a whisk, some wooden
spoons...

> They'll probably use the
> steak knives for opening a stubborn sack of Cheerios, slicing the
> wrapper on a new cd, scraping tar off the Welcome mat. Just no
> telling. Polly
>
If that's the intended usage, why not just give them a couple of pair of
good kitchen shears? The kind designed for cutting paper and plastic.
I'd recommend and exacto-knife for tar on a welcome mat. LOL

Jill

On Fri, 22 Nov 2013 23:47:42 -0500, jmcquown >
wrote:

snip I also started purchasing small kitchen items when I
>was about 18. I knew I wouldn't live at home forever. Steak knives
>were not high on my priority list. A collander, a whisk, some wooden
>spoons...
>
snip
>
>Jill

I started collecting that stuff when I was in 4th grade. I got all my
flatware and dishes (white with a gold rim) that way (passed them on
to daughter). Each week I'd bicycle to my violin teacher's house. A
short distance away was a grocery store. They gave away a piece of
tableware every week, no purchase necessary.
Janet US

"jmcquown" > wrote in message
...
> I certainly was. I also started purchasing small kitchen items when I was
> about 18. I knew I wouldn't live at home forever. Steak knives were not
> high on my priority list. A collander, a whisk, some wooden spoons...

I started at 13. Some things were given to me. Used to babysit for a woman
who paid me with unwanted wedding gifts. When she ran out of stuff I might
want and was forcing me to choose from stuff I did not want, and had no
money to pay me, I quit.

One of my friends had a hope chest. I wanted one but wasn't given one so I
started my own in a cardboard box that fit under my bed. Eventually
expanded to several boxes, not all of which would fit under the bed.

I had no furniture when I moved out aside from bedroom stuff and some big
floor pillows. But I did have towels and other linens and enough stuff for
the kitchen to where I could cook and bake mostly anything. My mom started
me out with the spices. Those cost a lot!
>
>> They'll probably use the
>> steak knives for opening a stubborn sack of Cheerios, slicing the
>> wrapper on a new cd, scraping tar off the Welcome mat. Just no
>> telling. Polly
>>
> If that's the intended usage, why not just give them a couple of pair of
> good kitchen shears? The kind designed for cutting paper and plastic. I'd
> recommend and exacto-knife for tar on a welcome mat. LOL

Ooh yes! I finally bought myself a second pair. I use mine a lot.

On Fri, 22 Nov 2013 23:47:42 -0500, jmcquown >
wrote:

> If that's the intended usage, why not just give them a couple of pair of
> good kitchen shears?

That's something my local 99¢ store (not a chain) was useful for. I
could buy kitchen shears for $1 that were the same quality, maybe
better, than what I saw at regular stores for $20. I bought several
and use them for all sorts of things unrelated to cooking. Sadly,
that store hasn't been as interesting since the change in ownership -
so I haven't browsed in quite a while.

--
Food is an important part of a balanced diet.

"jmcquown" > wrote in message
...
> On 11/20/2013 11:00 PM, Polly Esther wrote:
>> We are blessed with grandchildren who are setting up new homes and, of
>> course, kitchens. I've been thinking about what kitchen Christmas gift
>> would be useful and realized that I frequently reach for a 'steak
>> knife'. Not many steaks served here and I don't know if these young ones
>> 'do' steak very often either. The question - if I ever get to the point
>> - can any one recommend a set of steak knives that they've bought
>> recently and can recommend?
>
> A little late to the thread, but...
>
> No recommendation about steak knives. I can't imagine finding myself
> "frequently reaching for a 'steak knife'". Myself and most people I know
> only use them when eating plated steak. Since you don't know if the
> grandkids even eat steak often... well, I wouldn't consider that a useful
> gift.

I haven't even owned any steak knives for close to 30 years. I used to make
steak, perhaps only because I had the knives! The set I had was a wedding
gift to my parents. They gave them to me, most likely because they never
used them. So when I had company, I would often make steaks. But since I
don't eat steak and in those days ate no meat at all... I got rid of them.
My now husband actually took them only because he had no sharp knives. But
then we got married and I got them back. Heh. By then they were probably
50 years old and the wooden holder they came in didn't look so good any
more. I got rid of them again and I've never missed them.

Now if I do serve steak? I can just use one of my other sharp knives.
Husband is the only one who eats it anyway so only need one knife.

I can't imagine young people eating much steak because it is one of the more
expensive cuts f meat.

As for kitchen gifts, I would think there is no one thing that is a safe
gift for anyone. My mom gifted me with a ladle, complaining to me that she
had always wanted one. I didn't get that at all. Um... Dollar store! Go
buy one! I already had plenty of ladles so didn't need one at all. But I
can remember her dishing up the soup and stew with a brown, melaine coffee
cup because that was all that she had.

Then she gifted me with a mayo scraper not once but multiple times. Every
year in my Christmas stocking. This after my telling her that mayo was one
of those things we didn't eat much of at our house and then when I bought
it, I always wound up throwing the jar out with some left in it. Even the
tiny jars. These days I buy it only when needed for a recipe and usually
buy the plastic squeeze bottles.

Then there was the muddling spoon. My parents were sooo proud to give me
that! I didn't have one. Did I? Well, no. Perhaps because I don't DRINK!
And I'm not about to have a cocktail party that would involve my muddling
anything! I am sure they had no clue what it was when they bought it.

Then there are the countless other things I've been gifted with over the
years that were either cheap imitations of good things I already own,
duplicates of things I need no more of or things I just plain will never
use. Like the wine decanter or the punch bowl.
>
> Here's a thought. Ask them what they'd like "Santa" to bring them for
> their kitchens.

Yes. Very much agree. I've already let it be known that I want the red
topped Rubbermaid set of food containers. Gonna toss all of my old ones
when I get them. Assuming that I do get them. And if I don't? Will buy
them and still toss the others.
>
>> Also - my favorite for everything cooking big spoon is marked Utica
>> Cut Co USA. When it is busy, I feel deprived and use something else.
>> What is your best favorite reach-for cooking spoon? Polly
>>
> I most often use wooden spoons. I have a lot of them with varying handle
> lengths to handle pots of different depths. One is slotted, the other
> with a hole in the middle.

I have a general dislike for wooden ones. Exception being those very
expensive ones that are mostly decorative.

"Julie Bove" > wrote in message
...

> Then there was the muddling spoon. My parents were sooo proud to give me
> that! I didn't have one. Did I? Well, no. Perhaps because I don't
> DRINK! And I'm not about to have a cocktail party that would involve my
> muddling anything! I am sure they had no clue what it was when they
> bought it.

What is a muddling spoon and what does it do?

--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

On 11/23/2013 5:16 AM, Ophelia wrote:
>
>
> "Julie Bove" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>> Then there was the muddling spoon. My parents were sooo proud to give me
>> that! I didn't have one. Did I? Well, no. Perhaps because I don't
>> DRINK! And I'm not about to have a cocktail party that would involve my
>> muddling anything! I am sure they had no clue what it was when they
>> bought it.
>
> What is a muddling spoon and what does it do?
>

Some drinks call for muddling mint, for instance. It essentially
smashes the herbs so they release the oils and flavors.

"Ed Pawlowski" > wrote in message
...
> On 11/23/2013 5:16 AM, Ophelia wrote:
>>
>>
>> "Julie Bove" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>> Then there was the muddling spoon. My parents were sooo proud to give
>>> me
>>> that! I didn't have one. Did I? Well, no. Perhaps because I don't
>>> DRINK! And I'm not about to have a cocktail party that would involve my
>>> muddling anything! I am sure they had no clue what it was when they
>>> bought it.
>>
>> What is a muddling spoon and what does it do?
>>
>
> Some drinks call for muddling mint, for instance. It essentially smashes
> the herbs so they release the oils and flavors.

Oh! Thanks, Ed) What a lovely name for it)

--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

"Julie Bove" > wrote

> Then there was the muddling spoon. My parents were sooo proud to give me
> that! I didn't have one. Did I? Well, no. Perhaps because I don't
> DRINK! And I'm not about to have a cocktail party that would involve my
> muddling anything! I am sure they had no clue what it was when they
> bought it.

It was nice of them to shop for something they thought you'd like,
even if you didn't need it.

nancy

"Nancy Young" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Julie Bove" > wrote
>
>> Then there was the muddling spoon. My parents were sooo proud to give me
>> that! I didn't have one. Did I? Well, no. Perhaps because I don't
>> DRINK! And I'm not about to have a cocktail party that would involve my
>> muddling anything! I am sure they had no clue what it was when they
>> bought it.
>
> It was nice of them to shop for something they thought you'd like,
> even if you didn't need it.

Indeed!
--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

"Nancy Young" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Julie Bove" > wrote
>
>> Then there was the muddling spoon. My parents were sooo proud to give me
>> that! I didn't have one. Did I? Well, no. Perhaps because I don't
>> DRINK! And I'm not about to have a cocktail party that would involve my
>> muddling anything! I am sure they had no clue what it was when they
>> bought it.
>
> It was nice of them to shop for something they thought you'd like,
> even if you didn't need it.

No doubt they found it on sale somewhere.

"Ophelia" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> "Julie Bove" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>> Then there was the muddling spoon. My parents were sooo proud to give me
>> that! I didn't have one. Did I? Well, no. Perhaps because I don't
>> DRINK! And I'm not about to have a cocktail party that would involve my
>> muddling anything! I am sure they had no clue what it was when they
>> bought it.
>
> What is a muddling spoon and what does it do?

Not sure entirely but it is used to make certain cocktails.

On Sat, 23 Nov 2013 23:59:20 -0800, "Julie Bove"
> wrote:

>
>"Ophelia" > wrote in message
...
>>
>>
>> "Julie Bove" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>> Then there was the muddling spoon. My parents were sooo proud to give me
>>> that! I didn't have one. Did I? Well, no. Perhaps because I don't
>>> DRINK! And I'm not about to have a cocktail party that would involve my
>>> muddling anything! I am sure they had no clue what it was when they
>>> bought it.
>>
>> What is a muddling spoon and what does it do?
>
>Not sure entirely but it is used to make certain cocktails.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muddler

"The Other Guy" > wrote in message
...
> On Sat, 23 Nov 2013 23:59:20 -0800, "Julie Bove"
> > wrote:
>
>>
>>"Ophelia" > wrote in message
...
>>>
>>>
>>> "Julie Bove" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>
>>>> Then there was the muddling spoon. My parents were sooo proud to give
>>>> me
>>>> that! I didn't have one. Did I? Well, no. Perhaps because I don't
>>>> DRINK! And I'm not about to have a cocktail party that would involve my
>>>> muddling anything! I am sure they had no clue what it was when they
>>>> bought it.
>>>
>>> What is a muddling spoon and what does it do?
>>
>>Not sure entirely but it is used to make certain cocktails.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muddling_spoon

Thank you. Ed described it very well)
--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

In article >, says...

> I can't imagine young people eating much steak because it is one of the more
> expensive cuts f meat.

I know plenty of young people working hard and earning so much they
can buy and do whatever the hell they want. The world is their oyster.

Janet UK

"Janet" > wrote in message
t...
> In article >, says...
>
>> I can't imagine young people eating much steak because it is one of the
>> more
>> expensive cuts f meat.
>
> I know plenty of young people working hard and earning so much they
> can buy and do whatever the hell they want. The world is their oyster.
>

ditto. Even in this day and age, you can make something of yourself if you
have the mind to. Less motivation, though, since there are so many
government handouts and people telling you "its not your fault".

"Pico Rico" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Janet" > wrote in message
> t...
>> In article >, says...
>>
>>> I can't imagine young people eating much steak because it is one of the
>>> more
>>> expensive cuts f meat.
>>
>> I know plenty of young people working hard and earning so much they
>> can buy and do whatever the hell they want. The world is their oyster.
>>
>
> ditto. Even in this day and age, you can make something of yourself if
> you have the mind to. Less motivation, though, since there are so many
> government handouts and people telling you "its not your fault".

Guess your economy is different there as well. Here, the jobs are few and
far between for everyone! Not just the young. Has nothing to do with
motivation or working hard. The jobs are just not there.

On Sun, 24 Nov 2013 00:04:56 -0800, "Julie Bove"
> wrote:



>>>
>>> I know plenty of young people working hard and earning so much they
>>> can buy and do whatever the hell they want. The world is their oyster.
>>>
>>
>> ditto. Even in this day and age, you can make something of yourself if
>> you have the mind to. Less motivation, though, since there are so many
>> government handouts and people telling you "its not your fault".
>
>Guess your economy is different there as well. Here, the jobs are few and
>far between for everyone! Not just the young. Has nothing to do with
>motivation or working hard. The jobs are just not there.

Motivation is still a big factor. You still need some education or
skill. You still have to go out and find a job or do odd jobs to make
a few bucks. You can often relocate to where jobs are available.

Plenty of jobs are going begging because they cannot find qualified
people to fill them.
http://www.assemblymag.com/articles/...of-machinists-

The newspapers still have help wanted ads, so does Craig's List.

I recently hired two people for a basic factory job with minimal
skills needed. It took about 50 applicants to find two that:
Could pass a drug test
Could comprehend simple instructions
Had enough motivation to come to work every day.

This job would not get you steak every night, but it would get you
three meals a day and other benefits.
There are few jobs for the bozo crowd.

On Sunday, November 24, 2013 3:04:56 AM UTC-5, Julie Bove wrote:
>
> Guess your economy is different there as well. Here, the jobs are few and
> far between for everyone! Not just the young. Has nothing to do with
> motivation or working hard. The jobs are just not there.

Unless one is in an unfortunate situation that stops one
from moving, there is no good reason not to move to
another town to get a job. I'm tired of people
complaining about jobs, particularly in the USA.

http://www.richardfisher.com

Janet > wrote:
> In article >, says...
>
>> I can't imagine young people eating much steak because it is one of the more
>> expensive cuts f meat.
>
> I know plenty of young people working hard and earning so much they
> can buy and do whatever the hell they want. The world is their oyster.
>
> Janet UK

Around here, steak is frequently on sale for much less per pound than
boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
--
jinx the minx

"jinx the minx" > wrote in message
...
> Janet > wrote:
>> In article >, says...
>>
>>> I can't imagine young people eating much steak because it is one of the
>>> more
>>> expensive cuts f meat.
>>
>> I know plenty of young people working hard and earning so much they
>> can buy and do whatever the hell they want. The world is their oyster.
>>
>> Janet UK
>
> Around here, steak is frequently on sale for much less per pound than
> boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

Not here. Not good steak anyway. And the truly poor don't eat meat unless
it is the occasional pack of hot dogs.

The Other Guy wrote:
>
> I do NOT buy boneless/skinless chicken,
> I can take the bone and skin off myself for a LOT less money!

I agree but I leave the bone and skin on for more full flavor.

G.

"Janet" > wrote in message
t...
> In article >, says...
>
>> I can't imagine young people eating much steak because it is one of the
>> more
>> expensive cuts f meat.
>
> I know plenty of young people working hard and earning so much they
> can buy and do whatever the hell they want. The world is their oyster.

Guess your economy is different then. I know young people who live in tent
city. And most of the ones who are employed are seriously underemployed.
Also know plenty of people my age or older who are unemployed or
underemployed. I see lots happening at the dance studio. Dance is not
something you can usually go into if your family is poor although there are
some exceptions. I see person after person having to quit dance or cut back
on what they are doing because one or both parents lost their job.

>"jmcquown" > wrote in message
...

>> I most often use wooden spoons. I have a lot of them with varying handle
>> lengths to handle pots of different depths. One is slotted, the other
>> with a hole in the middle.

I have one with the hole in the middle. It's the one I use for
polenta. Don't know why, but seeing the polenta flow through that hole
just looks cool.

Doris

On Fri, 22 Nov 2013 21:53:14 -0500, jmcquown >
wrote:

>
> No recommendation about steak knives. I can't imagine finding myself
> "frequently reaching for a 'steak knife'". Myself and most people I
> know only use them when eating plated steak. Since you don't know if
> the grandkids even eat steak often... well, I wouldn't consider that a
> useful gift.

I don't use a steak knife when eating steak. I buy thick steaks that
can be cut into slices for serving, so the regular table knife works
just fine. In any case if kids today want steak knives, they just buy
a set of knives (in a block) that comes with them.

I hate the type of steak knife they sell these days with the
micro-whatever it's called anyway. They don't cut, they mangle. Buy
steak knives without that feature and they are yet another item with
an edge that needs to be kept maintained.

--
Food is an important part of a balanced diet.