Do you use them? For what?
Are you proficient with them?
How often? For non-Asian foods?

The history can be found on wiki, so I'll bypass that. I've been
using them, regularly, for about 6 yrs. I still don't consider myself
anywhere near having mastered them. More comfortable and use 'em more
and more, but still not my primary eating implement.

I notice my old geezer honky friend, who uses chopsticks exclusively,
has mastered them to a point where it's natural. He even does what I
call the scissors method --which is choreographed nowhere on the web.
Instead of the narrow isosceles trianble hold, most common with
novice/intermediate users, he crosses the sticks and pinches the food
item in a backward cross pinch. This is not unusual, having seen
scores of old geezers at pho houses using the exact same scissors-like
method. My buddy can't even articulate what he's doing, having done
it so long. But, I see the distinction.

BTW, nothing ****es me off like the lame-O retard TV producers who
consistently, to the point of boredom, always show ppl eating Chinese
take-out from the box with chopsticks, like every single living
individual in NYC is born with the inate ability to eat with
chopsticks. The only exception to this insane stereotype is
Christopher Noth on Law and Order, who once actually ate Chinese
take-out from the box with a plastic fork, like most real ppl! Mark
this day!!

nb

--
Fight internet CENSORSHIP - Fight SOPA-PIPA
Contact your congressman and/or representative, now!
http://projects.propublica.org/sopa/

notbob asked:

> Do you use them?

Yes.


> For what?

Eating and cooking. I use chopsticks wherever I find them more
expedient, e.g., with all manner of long noodles or for dishes which
don't have too-large or too-small chunks of food. I use them in cooking
frequently, especially when stir-frying with a nonstick pan.


> Are you proficient with them?

I get by.


> How often? For non-Asian foods?

Doesn't matter to me whether the food is Asian or not. Maybe four times
a week for eating, and that same number for cooking.

Bob

On 20 Jan 2012 07:04:38 GMT, notbob > wrote:

> Do you use them?

I use them, yes - but not very often.

> For what?

I use them to eat with and I only use them when in that kind of
restaurant. I do have some at home for family members who want to use
them. When I'm eating at home, give me a fork and damn the ethnicity
of the meal.

> Are you proficient with them?

I'd say so, not an expert by any means - I can't twirl noodles with
them, but I haven't seen many who can.

> How often?

As little as humanly possible. Two sticks are not my idea of eating
utensils.

> For non-Asian foods?

H*ll no.

--

Tell congress not to censor the web. Add your voice here.
https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

On 2012-01-20, Bob Terwilliger > wrote:

> Doesn't matter to me whether the food is Asian or not. Maybe four times
> a week for eating, and that same number for cooking.

Likewise.

Use 'em when I can. Sometimes a spatula is jes a better tool when
cooking. I often eat popcorn w/ sticks, specially the flavor coated
p-corns that can be so messy eating by hand. Good c-stick practice.

nb

--
Fight internet CENSORSHIP - Fight SOPA-PIPA
Contact your congressman and/or representative, now!
http://projects.propublica.org/sopa/

"notbob" > wrote in message
...
> Do you use them? For what?
> Are you proficient with them?
> How often? For non-Asian foods?
>
> The history can be found on wiki, so I'll bypass that. I've been
> using them, regularly, for about 6 yrs. I still don't consider myself
> anywhere near having mastered them. More comfortable and use 'em more
> and more, but still not my primary eating implement.
>
> I notice my old geezer honky friend, who uses chopsticks exclusively,
> has mastered them to a point where it's natural. He even does what I
> call the scissors method --which is choreographed nowhere on the web.
> Instead of the narrow isosceles trianble hold, most common with
> novice/intermediate users, he crosses the sticks and pinches the food
> item in a backward cross pinch. This is not unusual, having seen
> scores of old geezers at pho houses using the exact same scissors-like
> method. My buddy can't even articulate what he's doing, having done
> it so long. But, I see the distinction.
>
> BTW, nothing ****es me off like the lame-O retard TV producers who
> consistently, to the point of boredom, always show ppl eating Chinese
> take-out from the box with chopsticks, like every single living
> individual in NYC is born with the inate ability to eat with
> chopsticks. The only exception to this insane stereotype is
> Christopher Noth on Law and Order, who once actually ate Chinese
> take-out from the box with a plastic fork, like most real ppl! Mark
> this day!!
>
> nb

I use them for Asian food. I have some really pretty ones. We bought a ton
of them one year for my daughter's birthday party. It was Sagwa the Chinese
Siamese kitten party. So of course we had Chinese food and we gave out
fancy chopsticks for all the guests to eat with and keep.

"notbob" > wrote in message
...
> Do you use them? For what?
> Are you proficient with them?
> How often? For non-Asian foods?
>
> The history can be found on wiki, so I'll bypass that. I've been
> using them, regularly, for about 6 yrs. I still don't consider myself
> anywhere near having mastered them. More comfortable and use 'em more
> and more, but still not my primary eating implement.
>
> I notice my old geezer honky friend, who uses chopsticks exclusively,
> has mastered them to a point where it's natural. He even does what I
> call the scissors method --which is choreographed nowhere on the web.
> Instead of the narrow isosceles trianble hold, most common with
> novice/intermediate users, he crosses the sticks and pinches the food
> item in a backward cross pinch. This is not unusual, having seen
> scores of old geezers at pho houses using the exact same scissors-like
> method. My buddy can't even articulate what he's doing, having done
> it so long. But, I see the distinction.
>
> BTW, nothing ****es me off like the lame-O retard TV producers who
> consistently, to the point of boredom, always show ppl eating Chinese
> take-out from the box with chopsticks, like every single living
> individual in NYC is born with the inate ability to eat with
> chopsticks. The only exception to this insane stereotype is
> Christopher Noth on Law and Order, who once actually ate Chinese
> take-out from the box with a plastic fork, like most real ppl! Mark
> this day!!
>
> nb

I use them for Asian food. I have some really pretty ones. We bought a ton
of them one year for my daughter's birthday party. It was Sagwa the Chinese
Siamese kitten party. So of course we had Chinese food and we gave out
fancy chopsticks for all the guests to eat with and keep.

On Jan 19, 11:04*pm, notbob > wrote:
> Do you use them? *For what?
> Are you proficient with them?
> How often? *For non-Asian foods?
>

At home, I use bamboo chopsticks to eat things I cook in the wok; out,
mostly for Japanese food. Chinese restaurants give you plastic
chopsticks to use, which gives me no grip on something round, smooth,
and greasy like stirfried gai lan. Other than that, I am proficient.

One useful chopstick featu when you're heating oil in the wok,
stick a (bamboo) chopstick point down into the oil. When you see
bubbles coming up from the point, the oil is hot enough for frying.

NB: Not even Asians should use chopsticks to eat lunchtime "rice
plates." The sauce coats and lubricates the rice, forcing one to pick
it up grain by grain, should you be foolish enough to try to use
chopsticks.

On Jan 19, 11:04*pm, notbob > wrote:
> Do you use them? *For what?
> Are you proficient with them?
> How often? *For non-Asian foods?

I could use chopsticks to eat anything. However, Chinese people tell
me if they have a fork, they would (other things being equal) use
a fork, rather than chopsticks. Kind of a crime of opportunity.

There is one advantage, with (Japanese) chopsticks in a sushi place,
you can grasp the fish, dip it into soy sauce, without having to
"prick" it with a fork. They are like tongs in that respect.

Somebody pay me, and I'll eat a chicken-fried steak w/ sides using
chopsticks.


S.

On Jan 20, 3:06*am, spamtrap1888 > wrote:
> On Jan 19, 11:04*pm, notbob > wrote:
>
> > Do you use them? *For what?
> > Are you proficient with them?
> > How often? *For non-Asian foods?
>
> At home, I use bamboo chopsticks to eat things I cook in the wok; out,
> mostly for Japanese food. Chinese restaurants give you plastic
> chopsticks to use, which gives me no grip on something round, smooth,
> and greasy like stirfried gai lan. Other than that, I am proficient.
>
> One useful chopstick featu when you're heating oil in the wok,
> stick a (bamboo) chopstick point down into the oil. When you see
> bubbles coming up from the point, the oil is hot enough for frying.
>
> NB: Not even Asians should use chopsticks to eat lunchtime "rice
> plates." The sauce coats and lubricates the rice, forcing one to pick
> it up grain by grain, should you be foolish enough to try to use
> chopsticks.

you're supposed to bring the plate of rice close to your mouth, and
use the chop sticks to shovel it into your mouth.

On 20 Jan 2012 07:04:38 GMT, notbob > wrote:

>Do you use them?

Yes

> For what?

Stirring small cans of paint or stain, filling screw holes, mixing
epoxy.


>Are you proficient with them?

Sure, especially with epoxy.

(Steve Pope) wrote:

>On Jan 19, 11:04*pm, notbob > wrote:
>> Do you use them? *For what?
>> Are you proficient with them?
>> How often? *For non-Asian foods?
>
>I could use chopsticks to eat anything. However, Chinese people tell
>me if they have a fork, they would (other things being equal) use
>a fork, rather than chopsticks. Kind of a crime of opportunity.
>
>There is one advantage, with (Japanese) chopsticks in a sushi place,
>you can grasp the fish, dip it into soy sauce, without having to
>"prick" it with a fork. They are like tongs in that respect.

So are my fingers. Or I could use a knife and spoon like we did here
in the colonies until the 18th century or so.

>
>Somebody pay me, and I'll eat a chicken-fried steak w/ sides using
>chopsticks.

Well, if there's money in it, I'll give it a go--- But for my money,
I'd rather use a utensil I'm familiar with and concentrate on the
flavors-- or company.

Jim

On 1/20/2012 2:04 AM, notbob wrote:
> Do you use them? For what?
> Are you proficient with them?
> How often? For non-Asian foods?
>
> The history can be found on wiki, so I'll bypass that. I've been
> using them, regularly, for about 6 yrs. I still don't consider myself
> anywhere near having mastered them. More comfortable and use 'em more
> and more, but still not my primary eating implement.
>
> I notice my old geezer honky friend, who uses chopsticks exclusively,
> has mastered them to a point where it's natural. He even does what I
> call the scissors method --which is choreographed nowhere on the web.
> Instead of the narrow isosceles trianble hold, most common with
> novice/intermediate users, he crosses the sticks and pinches the food
> item in a backward cross pinch. This is not unusual, having seen
> scores of old geezers at pho houses using the exact same scissors-like
> method. My buddy can't even articulate what he's doing, having done
> it so long. But, I see the distinction.
>
> BTW, nothing ****es me off like the lame-O retard TV producers who
> consistently, to the point of boredom, always show ppl eating Chinese
> take-out from the box with chopsticks, like every single living
> individual in NYC is born with the inate ability to eat with
> chopsticks. The only exception to this insane stereotype is
> Christopher Noth on Law and Order, who once actually ate Chinese
> take-out from the box with a plastic fork, like most real ppl! Mark
> this day!!
>
> nb
>

What does our local electric utility (ppl) have to do with chopsticks?

On 1/20/2012 3:21 AM, Steve Pope wrote:
> On Jan 19, 11:04 pm, > wrote:
>> Do you use them? For what?
>> Are you proficient with them?
>> How often? For non-Asian foods?
>
> I could use chopsticks to eat anything. However, Chinese people tell
> me if they have a fork, they would (other things being equal) use
> a fork, rather than chopsticks. Kind of a crime of opportunity.
>
> There is one advantage, with (Japanese) chopsticks in a sushi place,
> you can grasp the fish, dip it into soy sauce, without having to
> "prick" it with a fork. They are like tongs in that respect.

That seems to be another as seen on TV thing. It is considered polite to
pick up sushi with your fingers.


>
> Somebody pay me, and I'll eat a chicken-fried steak w/ sides using
> chopsticks.
>
>
> S.

On 1/20/2012 2:32 AM, sf wrote:
> On 20 Jan 2012 07:04:38 GMT, > wrote:
>
>> Do you use them?
>
> I use them, yes - but not very often.
>
>> For what?
>
> I use them to eat with and I only use them when in that kind of
> restaurant. I do have some at home for family members who want to use
> them. When I'm eating at home, give me a fork and damn the ethnicity
> of the meal.
>
>> Are you proficient with them?
>
> I'd say so, not an expert by any means - I can't twirl noodles with
> them, but I haven't seen many who can.
>
>> How often?
>
> As little as humanly possible. Two sticks are not my idea of eating
> utensils.
>
>> For non-Asian foods?
>
> H*ll no.
>
I use them for Chinese and Japanese food but I've never learned how to
cut with them, unlike the mothers of some friends of my daughter. I've
also used them for Spaghetti (as I suspect Marco Polo did!) Unlike some
people in Thai restaurants, I normally use a spoon and fork as do the Thais.

--
Jim Silverton

Extraneous "not" in Reply To.

On Jan 20, 2:04*am, notbob > wrote:
> Do you use them? *For what?
> Are you proficient with them?
> How often? *For non-Asian foods?
> /

Can't handle them for eating. Too old to
learn. Not a thing I need on my resume.

I DO take em home tho if they're plopped down with my food, as I
figure they won't re-serve them. I find em useful for poking coffee
grounds, lifting a waffle from the iron, shoring up plants.....

If you attach a wet paper towel to the end, it can make a dandy
cleaning device for small, hard to reach places.

On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:07:36 -0800 (PST), A Moose in Love
> wrote:

>On Jan 20, 3:06*am, spamtrap1888 > wrote:
>> On Jan 19, 11:04*pm, notbob > wrote:
>>
>> > Do you use them? *For what?
>> > Are you proficient with them?
>> > How often? *For non-Asian foods?
>>
>> At home, I use bamboo chopsticks to eat things I cook in the wok; out,
>> mostly for Japanese food. Chinese restaurants give you plastic
>> chopsticks to use, which gives me no grip on something round, smooth,
>> and greasy like stirfried gai lan. Other than that, I am proficient.
>>
>> One useful chopstick featu when you're heating oil in the wok,
>> stick a (bamboo) chopstick point down into the oil. When you see
>> bubbles coming up from the point, the oil is hot enough for frying.
>>
>> NB: Not even Asians should use chopsticks to eat lunchtime "rice
>> plates." The sauce coats and lubricates the rice, forcing one to pick
>> it up grain by grain, should you be foolish enough to try to use
>> chopsticks.
>
>you're supposed to bring the plate of rice close to your mouth, and
>use the chop sticks to shovel it into your mouth.

How uncouth.

On 20 Jan 2012 07:04:38 GMT, notbob > wrote:

>Do you use them? For what?

For what do you have in mind?

>Are you proficient with them?

Not sure what's meant by proficient, but I can pick up whatever I want
and bring it to my mouth.

>How often? For non-Asian foods?

Rarely, for any food. I don't enjoy any food using chop sticks. To
me eating with chopsticks is tantamount to starting a fire by rubbing
two sticks together. The only plus I can think of about eating with
chopsticks is they are less gross than how a-rabs eat with the same
unwashed fingers they use to squeegee their butt hole.

On Jan 20, 10:51*am, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:
....
> Rarely, for any food. *I don't enjoy any food using chop sticks. *To
> me eating with chopsticks is tantamount to starting a fire by rubbing
> two sticks together. *The only plus I can think of about eating with
> chopsticks is they are less gross than how a-rabs eat with the same
> unwashed fingers they use to squeegee their butt hole.

Got you beat here too Sheldon! I've got a nuclear powered computer-
controlled pair of chopsticks with a wireless Internet connection
running at T3 speeds, GPS mil-spec chopstick tip locators, and fuel
injection! Fuel injection! Fuel injection!

John Kuthe...

On Jan 20, 8:51*am, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:

> *The only plus I can think of about eating with
> chopsticks is they are less gross than how a-rabs eat with the same
> unwashed fingers they use to squeegee their butt hole.

Once again, the Brokelyn compass needle points reliably south. Muslims
(and Christian Arabs as far as I know) eat only with their right hand,
reserving their left hands for all butt cleaning service. (Lefties
must learn to eat only with their rights.) In public, the left hand is
a helper hand only -- give and receive things (e.g. money and change)
only with your right hand, but you can carry bags, etc. with your left
hand.

Muslims prize personal hygiene highly -- the toilet in a public place
will be two ceramic footprints and a hole, so your ass touches nothing
that anyone else's did. A long-handled pail will be provided for you
to dip into water and sluice your buttcrack with.

On Jan 20, 11:36*am, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:
> On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:07:36 -0800 (PST), A Moose in Love
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > wrote:
> >On Jan 20, 3:06*am, spamtrap1888 > wrote:
> >> On Jan 19, 11:04*pm, notbob > wrote:
>
> >> > Do you use them? *For what?
> >> > Are you proficient with them?
> >> > How often? *For non-Asian foods?
>
> >> At home, I use bamboo chopsticks to eat things I cook in the wok; out,
> >> mostly for Japanese food. Chinese restaurants give you plastic
> >> chopsticks to use, which gives me no grip on something round, smooth,
> >> and greasy like stirfried gai lan. Other than that, I am proficient.
>
> >> One useful chopstick featu when you're heating oil in the wok,
> >> stick a (bamboo) chopstick point down into the oil. When you see
> >> bubbles coming up from the point, the oil is hot enough for frying.
>
> >> NB: Not even Asians should use chopsticks to eat lunchtime "rice
> >> plates." The sauce coats and lubricates the rice, forcing one to pick
> >> it up grain by grain, should you be foolish enough to try to use
> >> chopsticks.
>
> >you're supposed to bring the plate of rice close to your mouth, and
> >use the chop sticks to shovel it into your mouth.
>
> How uncouth.

That's just the nature of the way things woiks.

On Jan 19, 11:04*pm, notbob > wrote:
> Do you use them? *For what?

Yes, for eating and for cooking.

> Are you proficient with them?

Yes, after a lifetime of practice.

> How often? *For non-Asian foods?

Whenever it's convenient. In addition to the normal eating-size I
have a pair for cooking that are about a foot long, if not a bit
longer, that are useful for cooking. I think of all of them as "long
fingers". -aem

In article >,
notbob > wrote:

> Do you use them? For what?
> Are you proficient with them?
> How often? For non-Asian foods?
>
We use them mostly for Asian food. However, the most important use of
chopsticks in our home is to give treats of meat baby food to the cats
during training sessions or after grooming/claw clipping. The SO
started this when we acquired our first Russian Blue kitten, who was a
very quick study. Our current pair of cats are more easily distracted.
They have had more success training US than vice versa.

A true chopstick story: Years ago I went to lunch in DC's Chinatown with
a colleague (of Korean ancestry, who grew up in Atlanta) and his grad
student (from China) when we attended the Experimental Biology meeting.
When our meals came, two out of three of us dug in with chopsticks. My
colleague picked up a fork. His explanation: "I learned early on that
I could get more food in with a fork than with chopsticks." This same
colleague used to go to all-you-can-eat buffets with the grad students,
events that became known as Eatathons. (To his credit, he was obsessive
compulsive about working out BECAUSE he liked to eat.)

Cindy

--
C.J. Fuller

Delete the obvious to email me

On Friday, January 20, 2012 1:04:38 AM UTC-6, notbob wrote:
> Do you use them? For what?
> Are you proficient with them?
> How often? For non-Asian foods?

Yep, I can use them well enough that I won't starve.

The first time I tried was when Becca took me to a Vietnamese shop for Pho. I needed a bib... but with a little practice I got the hang of it fairly quickly. We use them at home when we make Asian dishes or when we are out to east in Asian restaruants, but i don't use them for "regualr" food.

George L

On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:44:04 -0800 (PST), aem >
wrote:

>On Jan 19, 11:04*pm, notbob > wrote:
>> Do you use them? *For what?
>
>Yes, for eating and for cooking.
>
>> Are you proficient with them?
>
>Yes, after a lifetime of practice.
>
>> How often? *For non-Asian foods?
>
>Whenever it's convenient. In addition to the normal eating-size I
>have a pair for cooking that are about a foot long, if not a bit
>longer, that are useful for cooking. I think of all of them as "long
>fingers".

The gals must love you!
Have you considered a career as a GYN? hehe

"notbob" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...

> Do you use them?

Yes.

> For what?

For food prepared for chopsticks.

> Are you proficient with them?

Yes.

> How often?

Depends on how often I eat food prepared for chopsticks.

> For non-Asian foods?

It makes little sense to eat Schweinsbraten mit Knoedel with chopsticks.

Cheers,

Michael Kuettner

On 1/20/2012 11:51 AM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
> On 20 Jan 2012 07:04:38 GMT, > wrote:
>
>> Do you use them? For what?
>
> For what do you have in mind?
>
>> Are you proficient with them?
>
> Not sure what's meant by proficient, but I can pick up whatever I want
> and bring it to my mouth.
>
>> How often? For non-Asian foods?
>
> Rarely, for any food. I don't enjoy any food using chop sticks. To
> me eating with chopsticks is tantamount to starting a fire by rubbing
> two sticks together. The only plus I can think of about eating with
> chopsticks is they are less gross than how a-rabs eat with the same
> unwashed fingers they use to squeegee their butt hole.

A method I have used to teach chopsticks to Europeans might be of
interest. The major observation is that the upper stick is manipulated
just like a pencil and the lower is held unmoving.

--
Jim Silverton

Extraneous "not" in Reply To.

On Jan 20, 2:04*am, notbob > wrote:
> Do you use them? *For what?
> Are you proficient with them?
> How often? *For non-Asian foods?
>
> The history can be found on wiki, so I'll bypass that. *I've been
> using them, regularly, for about 6 yrs. *I still don't consider myself
> anywhere near having mastered them. *More comfortable and use 'em more
> and more, but still not my primary eating implement.
>
> I notice my old geezer honky friend, who uses chopsticks exclusively,
> has mastered them to a point where it's natural. *He even does what I
> call the scissors method --which is choreographed nowhere on the web.
> Instead of the narrow isosceles trianble hold, most common with
> novice/intermediate users, he crosses the sticks and pinches the food
> item in a backward cross pinch. *This is not unusual, having seen
> scores of old geezers at pho houses using the exact same scissors-like
> method. *My buddy can't even articulate what he's doing, having done
> it so long. *But, I see the distinction.
>
> BTW, nothing ****es me off like the lame-O retard TV producers who
> consistently, to the point of boredom, always show ppl eating Chinese
> take-out from the box with chopsticks, like every single living
> individual in NYC is born with the inate ability to eat with
> chopsticks. *The only exception to this insane stereotype is
> Christopher Noth on Law and Order, who once actually ate Chinese
> take-out from the box with a plastic fork, like most real ppl! *Mark
> this day!! *
>
> nb
>
> --
> Fight internet CENSORSHIP - Fight SOPA-PIPA
> Contact your congressman and/or representative, now!http://projects.propublica.org/sopa/

At home, I use chopsticks mostly for cooking. Picking out a piece of
pasta to check for done, for example, or manipulating pieces 1n Teflon
pan. (My steel turners are smooth enough for Teflon, but my tongs
would scratch.) I guess I'm fairly proficient. Being mostly left
handed, I was eating with my right hand while I did a crossword with
my left. After a while, I realized that I was eating with chopsticks
-- crosswords can be distracting. I have eaten stiff Jello with
chopsticks just to show off, but that's nothing next to a Korean chap
who broke an egg into desert cup and picked the yolk out whole to --
as he put it -- "make show". I sometimes make my own version of ramen
that I eat with a large soup spoon abd chopsticks. If I had to use a
fork, I would probably use something else or break the noodles small
before putting them in.

Jerry
--
"I view the progress of science as being the slow erosion of the
tendency to dichotomize." Barbara Smuts, U. Mich.

On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:13:07 -0500, James Silverton
> wrote:

>On 1/20/2012 11:51 AM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
>> On 20 Jan 2012 07:04:38 GMT, > wrote:
>>
>>> Do you use them? For what?
>>
>> For what do you have in mind?
>>
>>> Are you proficient with them?
>>
>> Not sure what's meant by proficient, but I can pick up whatever I want
>> and bring it to my mouth.
>>
>>> How often? For non-Asian foods?
>>
>> Rarely, for any food. I don't enjoy any food using chop sticks. To
>> me eating with chopsticks is tantamount to starting a fire by rubbing
>> two sticks together. The only plus I can think of about eating with
>> chopsticks is they are less gross than how a-rabs eat with the same
>> unwashed fingers they use to squeegee their butt hole.
>
>A method I have used to teach chopsticks to Europeans might be of
>interest. The major observation is that the upper stick is manipulated
>just like a pencil and the lower is held unmoving.

I've known that for more then fifty years and that's the method I use
but still I don't enjoy eating any foods with chopsticks. I prefer a
fork or a spoon. However one of my eating oddities is that I don't
like to eat with a tablespoon, I prefer a teaspoon, even for foods
that most people eat with a tablespoon, like soup. I also don't like
eating with a dinner fork, I much prefer the smaller salad fork for
foods that need cutting, like steak. And for anything I can eat with
a spoon that's what I do, I eat stews with a teaspoon. I eat Chinese
food with a teaspoon, I eat Chinese food often, I eat the entire meal
with a teaspoon except those items I eat with my fingers; ribs,
eggrolls. On occasion I've been out with people who eat with
chopsticks so not to be the odd one out I go along with the program,
and I can handle chopsticks as well as anyone, but I don't enjoy my
meal. I think one reason is because chopsticks do not permit me to
carry enough sauce along with the food the way a spoon does and if I
try to bring saucy bits to my mouth with enough sauce to my liking
it's just too sloppy. I also don't like watching orientals eating
with chopsticks, no matter how deft when they eat saucy foods they
have to scoop and shovel and still juices run down their chins like a
bunch of toothless old nursing home crones... and to add insult to
injury orientals don't use a napkin, they use those chopsticks to
squeegee the dribbles from their chins back into their mouths...
actually watching makes me want to heave... orientals also talk with
their mouths full, in fact while they shovel food in as fast as they
can they're all the while babbling and drooling like sanitarium
lunatics, they never STFU. Maybe that's how the singsong oriental
languages evolved, from talking with a mouth crammed full of food and
keeping the beat with the shoveling, chewing, and swallowing. Italians
talk while they eat too but it's all silent gesticulations, a lot of
racy language all in mime. Krauts just belch and fart a lot, ach! LOL

On 1/20/2012 4:53 PM, Jerry Avins wrote:
> On Jan 20, 2:04 am, > wrote:
>> Do you use them? For what?
>> Are you proficient with them?
>> How often? For non-Asian foods?
>>
>> The history can be found on wiki, so I'll bypass that. I've been
>> using them, regularly, for about 6 yrs. I still don't consider myself
>> anywhere near having mastered them. More comfortable and use 'em more
>> and more, but still not my primary eating implement.
>>
>> I notice my old geezer honky friend, who uses chopsticks exclusively,
>> has mastered them to a point where it's natural. He even does what I
>> call the scissors method --which is choreographed nowhere on the web.
>> Instead of the narrow isosceles trianble hold, most common with
>> novice/intermediate users, he crosses the sticks and pinches the food
>> item in a backward cross pinch. This is not unusual, having seen
>> scores of old geezers at pho houses using the exact same scissors-like
>> method. My buddy can't even articulate what he's doing, having done
>> it so long. But, I see the distinction.
>>
>> BTW, nothing ****es me off like the lame-O retard TV producers who
>> consistently, to the point of boredom, always show ppl eating Chinese
>> take-out from the box with chopsticks, like every single living
>> individual in NYC is born with the inate ability to eat with
>> chopsticks. The only exception to this insane stereotype is
>> Christopher Noth on Law and Order, who once actually ate Chinese
>> take-out from the box with a plastic fork, like most real ppl! Mark
>> this day!!
>>
>> nb
>>
>> --
>> Fight internet CENSORSHIP - Fight SOPA-PIPA
>> Contact your congressman and/or representative, now!http://projects.propublica.org/sopa/
>
> At home, I use chopsticks mostly for cooking. Picking out a piece of
> pasta to check for done, for example, or manipulating pieces 1n Teflon
> pan. (My steel turners are smooth enough for Teflon, but my tongs
> would scratch.) I guess I'm fairly proficient. Being mostly left
> handed, I was eating with my right hand while I did a crossword with
> my left. After a while, I realized that I was eating with chopsticks
> -- crosswords can be distracting. I have eaten stiff Jello with
> chopsticks just to show off, but that's nothing next to a Korean chap
> who broke an egg into desert cup and picked the yolk out whole to --
> as he put it -- "make show". I sometimes make my own version of ramen
> that I eat with a large soup spoon abd chopsticks. If I had to use a
> fork, I would probably use something else or break the noodles small
> before putting them in.

The egg is a real achievement but I can usually pick up cubes of jello
with hashi (chopsticks). I only try that in Chinese buffets and I'm
sometimes reduced to stabbing them. Japanese and Chinese do eat soup
without a spoon by raising the cup to their lips. If there are solid
things, like noodles and meat in Pho soup, I use hashi. (OK, let me be
honest, I don't usually raise a large Pho bowl to my lips and I use the
porcelain soup spoons that are provided.)

Generally Chinese cooks use much oversized chopsticks as cooking
implements. It is also easier to cut food with the large ones.

--
Jim Silverton

Extraneous "not" in Reply To.

> It makes little sense to eat Schweinsbraten mit Knoedel with chopsticks.

It makes little sense to me to eat anything with chopsticks. Well,
ok...maybe a hotdog or something similar. You could stab it with one stick
and munch on it like a popcycle.

Not long after The Beginning, some Chinese fellow said, "Hey...let's quit
eating with our fingers like a bunch of heathens and use these cool sticks
instead."

Thus began table manners.

Later on, someone figured out that eating with a pair of sticks was kind of
stupid, and he invented the fork. Worked so much better except for soup,
etc. No problem said the next inventor who came up with the complimentary
spoon.

I do have a couple of pairs of chopsticks here. Looking at them right now,
I might send them down to the Amazon, to be given out to the natives with
Moe haircuts. They can use them for blowgun darts to kill monkeys way up in
the canopy. I think they eat monkey meat with their fingers once cooked
though. That closes the circle of life I suppose.

Gary

On 01/19/2012 11:04 PM, notbob wrote:
> Do you use them? For what?
> Are you proficient with them?
> How often? For non-Asian foods?

I use them well, and usually only in two circumstances: If we're eating
Chinese/Japanese food (not Thai), or if we're out of clean forks.

My first boyfriend was from Vietnam, and he taught me how to use them.
He said they used to play a game when he was little to see who could
pick up the smallest grain of rice.

Serene

--
http://www.momfoodproject.com

notbob wrote:
>
> Do you use them? For what?

I used to use them all the time,
but not since I went to low-carb.

> Are you proficient with them?

Very.

> How often? For non-Asian foods?

Not at all anymore, unless I'm at
a pho restaurant.

> I notice my old geezer honky friend, who uses chopsticks exclusively,
> has mastered them to a point where it's natural. He even does what I
> call the scissors method --which is choreographed nowhere on the web.

That's how I do it.

> Instead of the narrow isosceles trianble hold, most common with

I've tried that. I don't see any advantage,
and I don't get how you're supposed to eat
rice that way.

notbob wrote:
>
> Do you use them? For what?
> Are you proficient with them?
> How often?

After learning how and a bit of practice I ended up thinking they are
easier to use than a fork for a range of food shapes.

> For non-Asian foods?

Anything with noodles. When I go to Noodles & Company I will get
Stronganoff of Wisconsin cheese on rice noodles. I'll use chop sticks
to eat the noodles. Same at home.

Gary > wrote:
-snip-
>
>Later on, someone figured out that eating with a pair of sticks was kind of
>stupid, and he invented the fork. Worked so much better except for soup,
>etc. No problem said the next inventor who came up with the complimentary
>spoon.
>

Just to pick a nit here-- the spoon predated the [eating] fork by
centuries. Forks were for grabbing stuff out of a fire-- fingers
and knives gave way to knives and spoons-- and a few hundred years
alter the fork made it to the table.


Jim

Serene Vannoy wrote:
>
> I use them well, and usually only in two circumstances: If we're eating
> Chinese/Japanese food (not Thai), or if we're out of clean forks.

"if we're out of clean forks?"
Geez....how long does it take to wash a couple of forks? ;-D


> My first boyfriend was from Vietnam, and he taught me how to use them.
> He said they used to play a game when he was little to see who could
> pick up the smallest grain of rice.

Sounds like he was easily amused.

Here at the beach a few years ago, one tourist shop offered:

"Your name printed on a grain of rice - $5.00"
LOL! Very weird yet different and unique.

They used a laser something and they actually printed your name on a single
grain of rice. You could only see it by using maybe a magnifying glass, or
more likely a microscope?

Anyway, that was strange enough that I was tempted to buy a few for future
gifts to family or friends.

Gary

On 2012-01-21, Gary > wrote:
>
> They used a laser something and they actually printed your name on a single
> grain of rice.

That's pretty mudane. I've seen busts of famous ppl carved from a
grape seed, also old hat. Google for micro sculptures and find a lot
of these:

http://tinyurl.com/85dhytb

See! Another miracle of miniaturization at the mere push of a button.
The above link was originally almost 12 lines long!!

nb



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vanillabeans18 wrote:
>
> sometimes it just feels awkward to use chopsticks.

You think?

Sorry folks but I've always had a pet peeve about using chopsticks.
WTH? They were probably new-tech utensils 3 thousand years ago but we do
progress and move on. I have no urge to ride a horse to work now or to
visit family/friends just because that's they way they used to do it.

I also have no urge to eat my meals with a couple of sticks.

Gary

Mark Thorson wrote:
>
> notbob wrote:
> >
> > Do you use them? For what?
>
> I used to use them all the time,
> but not since I went to low-carb.

Well there ya go! Chopsticks are evil high carbs too!

Gary

On 2012-01-21, Gary > wrote:

> I also have no urge to eat my meals with a couple of sticks.

There are times when they are right tool for the job, like fishing pickle chips
or olives outta half empty jar. I use 'em for eating cheese covered popcorn
and salt/ppr potato chips. Keeps the hands clean.

nb

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vi --the heart of evil!

In article >, says...
>
> vanillabeans18 wrote:
> >
> > sometimes it just feels awkward to use chopsticks.
>
> You think?
>
> Sorry folks but I've always had a pet peeve about using chopsticks.
> WTH? They were probably new-tech utensils 3 thousand years ago but we do
> progress and move on. I have no urge to ride a horse to work now or to
> visit family/friends just because that's they way they used to do it.
>
> I also have no urge to eat my meals with a couple of sticks.

They are alternate-tech. Forks did not replace chopsticks, chopsticks
were never used in Europe. And Asians, despite being eminently capable
of making forks, don't seem to have any interest in doing so for any
purpose other than to sell them to the round-eyed Western devils.

But you reflect a cultural bias so well established that it has become a
cliche. From a 1955 movie: "To the Western world at that time, Japan
was a fairybook nation: little people living in a strange land of rice-
paper houses... people who had almost no furniture, who sat on the floor
and ate with chopsticks. The quaint houses of rice paper, sir: they were
made of paper because there was no other material available. And the
winters in Japan are as cold as they are in Boston. And the chopsticks:
there was no metal for forks and knives and spoons, but slivers of wood
could suffice." Funny, the Japanese, with the second largest economy on
Earth, still like those rice paper houses (the ones who can afford a
house anyway--land is scarce in Japan) and still use slivers of wood to
eat the rice they prepared in their computer-controlled fuzzy-logic
induction heated rice cookers, and still prefer to sit on the floor
while they watch their high definition televisions reporting on the
accident at one of their many their nuclear power plants.