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Aprons: Do you use one?


annecros

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1 hour ago, Jacksoup said:

I buy aprons as souvenirs when I travel.  I have about 10 of them hanging on a wall rack inthe kitchen and use one when I saute, fry or use flour.  Or old clothes work too.

I've also bought some aprons and things like "dish" towels at various markets over the years...I find that the first time I wash and dry them, they would barely be useful for a 5-year old.

I still have 1 or 2 aprons from when I was in cooking school - I think they were like $5 back then, classic cotton/poly whatever, they worked and work fine. A chef's coat is much more protective; at this point, they're both too hot.

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

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2 minutes ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

My daily uniform is jeans and sweater or t-shirt.    Not jeans, sweaters or t-shirt I might wear to a casual gathering.    When, like last hour before a dinner party, I have to man the piano in concert clothes, I wear an apron.   Or more usually a chefs' jacket or smock.

In the last hour, I put on a clean black T-shirt! My concession to back-of-house wear is what are colloguially known as busboy or dishwasher shirts - they're fucking perfect!

image.png.cdfa9c55bcc9721cdf684e25df072ab9.png\

 

 And the reason they're perfect is that if you set yourself afire, the snaps allow you to rip them off in a hurry!
 

Sullivan Uniform

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Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

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I've never been a fan of linen, I don't really like the coarse, wrinkly look.  I had initially thought I'd just sew up a pinafore based on the Rough Linen design.   However, after looking at it closely I realized it was so well made that I'd never be able to replicate it such a way as to be totally satisfied.

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18 hours ago, lindag said:

I finally started wearing my Rough Linen pinafore apron this week...It’s been hanging on the back of a chair all this time.

i love it!  Now I’m going to wear it all the time...not having a strap across the back of my neck is a must,

I just ordered a second one in white.

 

Mine hangs on the inside of a tall cabinet door in the kitchen and I use it a lot.  I was thinking of getting another in red or black and trying the one with the rounded neckline this time.  I'll have to watch for a sale or free shipping offer to nudge me into ordering!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I happened across a smock apron at World Market (online).

At a bargain price I couldn’t resist although I was very skeptical about the ‘one-size-fits-most’ description.

I usually find this to be true only if you’re the tiny size of the Vietnamese woman who does my nails.

However, I was |completely surprised to find it fits me just fine..(I’m 5’8” (or used to be) and usually wear an XL.

I love it!

Smock.

Note:  The gray seems to be temporarily out of stock but there are other colors.

Edited by lindag (log)
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  • 1 year later...
1 minute ago, blue_dolphin said:

Treated myself to another Rough Linen apron. This one in Orchid (which goes with my hair) and has the rounded neck.  Put it on this morning to make strawberry biscuits.  The apron looks better than the biscuits 🙃

 

 

 

 

I do.  And I have one of the RL designs.  I try to remember to put it on before I spill on myself.  However, it's always one of those "I shall never again" moments.

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29 minutes ago, lindag said:

I do.  And I have one of the RL designs.  I try to remember to put it on before I spill on myself.  However, it's always one of those "I shall never again" moments.

I hear you. I have a dozen aprons neatly folded in a drawer, and while my shirts have an "elapsed time before getting food stained" of about two wears.

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"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

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I cook bare chested*. Like all men in my family I am blessed with the Yeti gene which means I can simply outgrow stains and various failed cooking attempts**
 

 

—-

* I know you didn’t know that …

** except when making marmalade (see the “I will never again …” thread). But then again: scars are a man’s proof he has accomplished something in life and looking like a partially shaved llama has its own merits.

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31 minutes ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

I seldom have anything on in the kitchen that warrants the protection of an apron.   

 

I seldom have anything on in the kitchen.

 

I feel sad for my Rough Linen.  I would wear it more if I could figure out how to put it on.

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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Kitchen mishaps no apron would prevent: Now that Seville oranges are in season in my neck of the woods we made our first batch of 2022 marmalade. It is beyond me how I ended up with ribbons of it in my hair. Truly icky. Filled up the jars, and got in the shower in a hurry. If I have any clothing I wish to protect  will wear my one apron, that I've had for as long as I can remember. It is heavy cotton mattress ticking railroad or whatever you might call it. Works fine, looks very jaunty. But more often I cook in old flannel shirts and don't bother with the apron. After a few minutes I inevitably have a dish towel slung over my shoulder. Sometimes two of them if I forgot I was already wearing the first one.

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1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

seldom have anything on in the kitchen

Wow that must be very painful at times. 

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

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1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I seldom have anything on in the kitchen.

 

 

 

What time did you say you were expecting us for dinner? I may be early....

 

The apron: Mine is 42 years old. Was made for me by my mother while iI was in Ceramics school. She had stopped by the studio one day and found me covered in mud after an afternoon of throwing pots (a typical look each day). Wasn't that bad, a little bit of air dry and it would either peel off or crack off.

But she gifted me with a long, midway between ankle and knee, full  size mattress ticking canvas apron, with pockets, lots of room, and lots of panache (mattress ticking, panache. never before in the same sentence). 

 

It's done triple duty being used when I have painting projects too.

 

 

 

 

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17 hours ago, CentralMA said:

What time did you say you were expecting us for dinner? I may be early....

 

The apron: Mine is 42 years old. Was made for me by my mother while iI was in Ceramics school. She had stopped by the studio one day and found me covered in mud after an afternoon of throwing pots (a typical look each day). Wasn't that bad, a little bit of air dry and it would either peel off or crack off.

But she gifted me with a long, midway between ankle and knee, full  size mattress ticking canvas apron, with pockets, lots of room, and lots of panache (mattress ticking, panache. never before in the same sentence). 

 

It's done triple duty being used when I have painting projects too.

 

 

 

 

Yay to mattress ticking. Never looks anything but cool and you can take it to the grave.

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I always wear aprons too.  I love aprons.  I'm sure I've posted about this here . . .

 

I am intrigued at folks who don't need them -- I am one filthy prep person.  Honestly, my aprons tend to last about two days before they have enough food on them to draw vermin.  It's usually meat blood and grease.  

 

I have two winter workhorses;  two summer workhouses (linen); and a pretty apron for when there's company.  

 

They all hang on a pig hook:

IMG_3553.thumb.JPG.162cc452cee5e63e1af2bb703d01d292.JPG

Edited by SLB (log)
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This thread cursed my apron.

 

My wife found a respectable ham shoulder at the market today. Bought it, cooked it, left quite a mess in the pan. But the ham was wonderful, so all is OK.

 

My job was to clean the pan. Put in a bit of water, heated it up on the cooktop, left it sizzling (homage to John Prine there....)

 

Did the dishes, took some of the soapy water and poured it into the pan. Left it sizzling.... (again, see above)

 

Went over to scrape the pan to assist the clean, with my aforementioned apron on. Gas stove.

 

Damn. I'M ON FIRE!!!!!

 

Turned to my wife....said "I'M ON FIRE!!!!!"

 

Yeah. 

 

Should have mentioned earlier that my mother handmade this apron 42 years ago. I'm betting she's laughing from above.

 

IMG_20220214_183951558.thumb.jpg.979c2073e0b592c9fdb19ef96f9ee3f1.jpg

Edited by CentralMA (log)
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