I will never again . . . (Part 4)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I shall never again misplace my pot of nuts.  With relentless regularity it is again time for me to make orgeat.  Earlier I weighed out almonds and apricot kernels.  And put for them to soak.  I'm sure I did.  But then I could not find them.

 

I searched the kitchen.  I searched the bedroom.  I checked the bathroom and the dining room.  I looked in the oven and the dishwasher.  I finally found the nuts in the living room, next to the pot of deep frying oil on top of the blast freezer.

 

 

[Tropicalsenior]

5 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I shall never again

I always open this with trepidation when I see your name. Thank goodness, this time, the only problem is you're nuts. No body parts damaged. Oops! Typo! Your nuts.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I will never again broil my strip steak on the Philips grill keep warm setting.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I will never again not label my gelato.  We all know this is a brazen lie.

 

[gfweb]

7 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I will never again broil my strip steak on the Philips grill keep warm setting.

 

sous vided it

[scubadoo97]

Not sure if I’ve replied to this post previously but I’ll never use a mandolin slicer without a cut glove.  Nearly removed the tip of my left index finger slicing cooked beets paper thin 

[Tropicalsenior]

12 minutes ago, scubadoo97 said:

Not sure if I’ve replied to this post previously but I’ll never use a mandolin slicer without a cut glove.  Nearly removed the tip of my left index finger slicing cooked beets paper thin 

Oh my goodness! I cringe just thinking about it. I'm scared to death of those things. I've been given 2 as gifts and I've regifted them. Now that I think of it, they had to have been idiots to have given an instrument of torture like that to a klutz like me. I hope you buy a cut glove before you even look at that thing again.

[scubadoo97]

2 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Oh my goodness! I cringe just thinking about it. I'm scared to death of those things. I've been given 2 as gifts and I've regifted them. Now that I think of it, they had to have been idiots to have given an instrument of torture like that to a klutz like me. I hope you buy a cut glove before you even look at that thing again.

The last cut was a few yrs ago.  I only use the gloves when using a mandolin slicer.   I rarely ever cut myself with knives these days.  Early on when I got into knife sharpening before I had learned how to correctly use a knife I did have a mishap or two or three

[chromedome]

10 minutes ago, scubadoo97 said:

The last cut was a few yrs ago.  I only use the gloves when using a mandolin slicer.   I rarely ever cut myself with knives these days.  Early on when I got into knife sharpening before I had learned how to correctly use a knife I did have a mishap or two or three

Do you favor the chain-mail type, or the Kevlar? As my arthritis worsens, I can see the probability that I'll use my mandolines more and have considered buying a glove.

[Tropicalsenior]

5 minutes ago, scubadoo97 said:

The last cut was a few yrs ago.  I only use the gloves when using a mandolin slicer.   I rarely ever cut myself with knives these days.  Early on when I got into knife sharpening before I had learned how to correctly use a knife I did have a mishap or two or three

There isn't one of us here that can't say been there done that. And the older you get the more careful you have to be. To me, the first and the most important thing that you have to learn in a kitchen is selection, care, and use of your knives. As I said, I'm scared to death of mandolins so I can do anything that a mandolin can do with a knife. Maybe not as fast, but a whole lot safer.

[scubadoo97]

14 minutes ago, chromedome said:

Do you favor the chain-mail type, or the Kevlar? As my arthritis worsens, I can see the probability that I'll use my mandolines more and have considered buying a glove.

Pretty sure they are the Kevlar variety.   I so rarely use my mandolins these days.   
But I’m most often cooking tor 2 

[Darienne]

The fingers on my hands are curling tightly under all on their own as I read these last posts.  I no longer even own a mandoline. 

[chromedome]

34 minutes ago, Darienne said:

The fingers on my hands are curling tightly under all on their own as I read these last posts.  I no longer even own a mandoline. 

 

It comes down to individual preferences/situations, I think. In my case my first thought is always the continued impact of arthritis, but I'm also very prone to tendinitis and there are already days when handling a knife can be problematic for me (so as I type the words, it occurs to me that I'm probably approaching this backwards...). A mandoline would be the easier option for me in a lot of cases, and I also have a stack of yet-unused discs for my Cuisinart, which I'll need to dig into at some point.

 

I've sacrificed the odd bit of knuckle or fingertip to a mandoline over the years, but a cut-resistant glove (in conjunction with the existing holder thingie) would greatly reduce the likelihood of injury. My GF also says she'd be comfortable using the mandoline if she had one, rather than conscripting me as needed to do her slicing. (shrug) It just seems like a reasonable adaptation/precaution, like buying voice dictation software against the day I can no longer type (which I've already done).

[Tropicalsenior]

7 hours ago, chromedome said:

In my case my first thought is always the continued impact of arthritis

I, too, seem to be looking for shortcuts to get around the effects of arthritis. I've gone to dictation just for that reason. I also realize that I underutilized the disks for my food processor. I just find it easier to struggle through with a knife than to clean the food processor. It just occurred to me that this would be a great idea for a topic.

Edited December 7, 2021 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[chromedome]

37 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I, too, seem to be looking for shortcuts to get around the effects of arthritis. I've gone to dictation just for that reason. I also realize that I underutilized the disks for my food processor. I just find it easier to struggle through with a knife than to clean the food processor. It just occurred to me that this would be a great idea for a topic.

I thought we had a thread around here somewhere dealing with accessibility issues and their corresponding adjustments, but I wasn't able to find it on a quick search. It may be that I'm remembering digressions spread across multiple threads, or just that I need to invest a bit more time in learning how to use the on-site search properly.

[Smithy]

I just realized that my Kevlar glove would be a good idea when I use my box grater. I usually have no casualties with relatively soft cheese, but the last batch of parmesan took a small toll.

 

Kevlar: it's not just for mandolines any more!

[Darienne]

8 hours ago, chromedome said:

I thought we had a thread around here somewhere dealing with accessibility issues and their corresponding adjustments, but I wasn't able to find it on a quick search. It may be that I'm remembering digressions spread across multiple threads, or just that I need to invest a bit more time in learning how to use the on-site search properly.

HeidiH will find the thread for sure.  She is an amazing archivist for eG. 

 

*Host's note: the old topic and the new one regarding this crucial question have been merged. Please see How Do You Deal With Handicaps in the Kitchen?

 

 

8 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I, too, seem to be looking for shortcuts to get around the effects of arthritis. I've gone to dictation just for that reason. I also realize that I underutilized the disks for my food processor. I just find it easier to struggle through with a knife than to clean the food processor. It just occurred to me that this would be a great idea for a topic.

As for the disks on the food processor.  A few years ago, before my two Carpal Tunnel surgeries, my hands had become useless and I did finally start to use the disks which had come with the processor.  I don't think any processors still have the wonderful disks which I own on my very old machine.   The slicer does about 10 different levels and the grater has two sizes.  Never again would I go back to using just a knife if I could whiz the stuff through the processor in about 30 seconds. 

 

The on-off switch on my processor is kaput but Ed, clever always Ed, has wired the thing so that it works anyway.  No safety guard anymore...so that is a factor.  I have a big sticker on the processor body warning all comers that the safety feature is no longer and I am VERY careful about taking the plug out the second I am done.   THE VERY SECOND.  I can think of some eGers I would not let use my machine....

Edited December 7, 2021 by Smithy
Added host's note (log)

[scubadoo97]

Think I posted this pic before but this was what I had In mind while I was slicing beets micro thin when I cut myself.  Actually the dish wasn’t planned but kinda evolved as I went along.  It started out as what can I do with carrot tops.  
 

I was just think how I can use carrot tops after buying a bunch of carrots at a produce stand. Carrots with green tops are not a common sight and they looked so good.   Had cooked beets in the fridge from the previous day 

 

I had to return and finish the dish the next day with my left index finger stitched and all wrapped up.  

 

 

Edited December 7, 2021 by scubadoo97
Spelling (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

1 minute ago, scubadoo97 said:

Think I posted this pic before but this was what I had I’m mind while I was slicing beets micro thin when I cut myself.  Actually the dish wasn’t planned but kinda evolved as I went along.  It started out as what can I do with carrot tops.  
 

I was just think how I can use carrot tops after buying a bunch of carrots at a produce stand. Carrots with green tops are not a common sight and they looked so good.   Had cooked beets in the fridge from the previous day 

 

I had to return and finish the dish the next day with my left index finger stitched and all wrapped up.  

 

 

Beautiful dish but I cringed because that red stuff kind of looks like blood.

[scubadoo97]

13 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Beautiful dish but I cringed because that red stuff kind of looks like blood.

the red and yellow beets were sliced paper thin

Edited December 7, 2021 by scubadoo97
Addition (log)

[gfweb]

I cut myself the first time I used the mandoline about 15 years ago. Got a kevlar glove. Never needed it since

 

Now I'm barehanded and just wary of distractions and pay attention to what I'm doing.

 

But yeah.

[Tropicalsenior]

1 minute ago, gfweb said:

 Got a kevlar glove. Never needed it since

But yeah.

Famous last words!

Edited December 7, 2021 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[TdeV]

These are the best cut resistant gloves from Lee Valley that I've found. Trouble is they are quite narrow in the knuckle (which doesn't help with arthritis) and long in the finger. But I find if I squish them onto the finger tip, they stay there. I'm able to hold a few pieces of bell pepper to cut into small dice (without slicing off the finger tip). Also I use them to hold the food which I pass over the mandoline.

 

So, I wish they were designed better for my hands. The only other difficulty I've had is that the sizes are wildly divergent (XXL is smaller than L). The gloves are manufactured in China and come from multiple runs or companies (i.e. the labels are dissimilar). But Lee Valley is very good about postage-paid returns.

 

 

Edited December 8, 2021 by TdeV
More, of course. (log)

[haresfur]

12 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Beautiful dish but I cringed because that red stuff kind of looks like blood.

 

Helps hide the real blood

[Kim Shook]

I have this Trudeau cut resistant glove.  I like it a lot.  It says one size, but it's actually snug and I really feel safe because of that.  I know that I would use it less if it was huge and flopped around on my hand.