Re: Aimless complaining

1

Why would you be looking to buy lemon juice, when you have a huge new produce section, which presumably contains lemons?


Posted by: emdash | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 3:51 PM
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If life hides the lemon juice, use lemonade.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 3:51 PM
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Where I shop, something else segregated in the explicitly kiddie-stuff aisle was applesauce. Is that normal?


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 3:57 PM
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I've been having a headache since Thursday. I think it might be a migraine, although I've never had them before. What a useless new skill for my body to have acquired.


Posted by: YK | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 3:57 PM
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3: Apple sauce is explicitly kiddie stuff.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 4:00 PM
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4: If you were on Day 4 of a full-on migraine, you'd probably have gone to an emergency room already. It's more a whole-body event than just a bad headache, with some specific symptoms that go along with them like nausea, inability to eat, visual field distortions, and excruciating sensitivity to light. A multi-day headache like that would make me suspect something like a sinus infection or an allergic reaction first.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 4:17 PM
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7

6: But everybody's different and I am not a doctor.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 4:19 PM
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1: Because lemon juice from a big, cheap bottle lasts a really long time and is way easier than squeezing lemons? And I can't taste the difference? AND GET OFF MY CASE WHAT'S WITH THE THIRD DEGREE.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 4:32 PM
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That's not what you said before you administered that exam.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 4:33 PM
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I agree with 8. I often have both fresh lemons and a big bottle of lemon juice around. If I just want a dash of lemon juice to brighten up a non-delicate dish, I'm unlikely to dirty a knife and the lemon squeezer just for that.


Posted by: Blume | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 4:37 PM
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11

But someday I will live somewhere with a dishwasher and maybe it will be a whole new world.


Posted by: Blume | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 4:38 PM
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I have a dishwasher and I'm still lazy!


Posted by: heebie-heebie | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 4:43 PM
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I don't want to knife-shame you, Blume, but I certainly hope you wouldn't think of putting your kitchen knives into a dishwasher.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 4:44 PM
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I feel like we've been cooking with the nice knives that my parents got us for long enough that they should be sharpened, but I don't know how to go about doing that. I don't want to risk ruining them by doing it myself, unless that's the done thing.


Posted by: heebie-heebie | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 4:47 PM
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I have a little serrated knife with a plastic handle that I use to cut citrus and tomatoes. I'd put that in a dishwasher in a second. The santoku, no.


Posted by: Blume | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 4:48 PM
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14: I am sure there is a place you can bring your knives to have them sharpened somewhere not too far from where you live.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 4:49 PM
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What kind of place? No really.


Posted by: heebie-heebie | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 4:50 PM
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Do you all just sharpen them yourselves? I rad somewhere about a precise 45° angle to use when sharpening knives which made me think I'd screw it up.


Posted by: heebie-heebie | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 4:51 PM
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Some of your swankier supermarkets and like that offer knife-sharpening services; also maybe your swankier kitchen supply stores? There also exist around here, though perhaps not around there (though probably in Austin) more dedicated sharpening services, which you can probably find by searching for "knife sharpening service" on yelp.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 4:52 PM
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18: I have several knives that I sharpen myself because I know how to, another knife that I hardly ever use but has a different kind of edge that I'd be concerned about fucking up if I sharpened it but I hardly ever use it so who cares, and a kind of crappy but also pretty cheap paring knife that I'll probably just replace when it gets too dull (though maybe I should try sharpening it first; why not?).


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 4:54 PM
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Even a swanky grocery store would require a trip to Austin. 16 is so totally refuted.


Posted by: heebie-heebie | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 4:55 PM
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See? Though I have no idea how close you are to Austin.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 4:56 PM
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21: well, I don't know where you live.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 4:56 PM
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CLEARLY.


Posted by: heebie-heebie | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 4:58 PM
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Yelp produces nothing in this town. I'm so noble or something.


Posted by: heebie-heebie | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 4:59 PM
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I have something to complain about too. Last Friday at a department meeting, one of the other professors threw a huge meltdown-y tantrum with lots of thinly veiled threats of violence and personal insults and swearing and stomping around, getting in people's faces, etc. Most of it was not directed at me, but some was, and the whole thing was very upsetting and scary and weird. I continued to have a mouth full of adrenaline & a pounding heart for like 20 minutes after.

The department chair and I met with the provost later in the afternoon and mostly I didn't really think about it much yesterday but starting about an hour ago I started getting very tense and cranky again and now I'm tense and cranky about the fact that I'm tense and cranky, too, and I don't want to go to work tomorrow and woe, woe is me.


Posted by: E. Messily | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 5:03 PM
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27

Sometimes there are traveling van-based knife-sharpeners at farmer's markets. Maybe check there?


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 5:04 PM
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28

In my experience, farmer's markets generally have knife sharpeners. You drop your knives off before shopping and pick them up on your way out.


Posted by: AcademicLurker | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 5:06 PM
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5: Well then they should stock some with labels indicating for use in recipes, so nobody doubts my sophistication and/or childlessness.


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 5:07 PM
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30

Pwned by 27.


Posted by: AcademicLurker | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 5:07 PM
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31

My santoku onion knife is fucked up, it has a notch in the blade presumably from being put in the dishwasher (not by me.) Can it be saved with a professional sharpening?


Posted by: SP | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 5:08 PM
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Super annoying Q&A where no one could possibly give a ballpark answer. The only answer is to gasp in surprise that someone would be so dense as to ask how often to get their knives sharpened. Obviously it varies beyond comprehension.


Posted by: heebie-heebie | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 5:08 PM
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Hardware stores sometimes sharpen knives (the hardware store in our non-rich non-fancy neighborhood does this). Check for either independent or quasi-independent ones - ours is an Ace hardware run by a family so it's [Family Name] Ace Hardware. Also, of course, posh kitchen supply places generally sharpen knives.


Posted by: Frowner | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 5:09 PM
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Do you live near San Antonio, heebie? There's a hardware store in San Antonio that sharpens knives.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 5:10 PM
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Ooh, we do have a locally owned hardware store. Good tip!


Posted by: heebie-heebie | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 5:10 PM
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About equ I distant. Yes, autocorrect, that's exactly what I wanted to type.


Posted by: heebie-heebie | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 5:11 PM
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37

They did that with my local Stop & Shop too but it was even more annoying in that they simply swapped the arrangements within the aisles. So what used to be on the left side of the aisle is now on the right and vice versa. It is very disorienting.


Posted by: Barry Freed | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 5:12 PM
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26: A different professional with a van might help you. You want the guy with the van without windows.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 5:16 PM
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39

What about a front windshield?


Posted by: heebie-heebie | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 5:18 PM
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40

That's fine so long as there is a wall blocking access to the back of the van.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 5:19 PM
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41

How about a semi?


Posted by: heebie-heebie | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 5:20 PM
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You might try the roll-your-own store owners. They need a new line of work. Apparently, businesses that exists to exploit loopholes in tax laws are really vulnerable to changes in tax law.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 5:23 PM
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41: Too hard to park in a non-obvious way.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 5:24 PM
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44

Who suspects semis of anything g nefarious? Weird, Mobes.


Posted by: heebie-heebie | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 5:32 PM
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45

G. Nefarious would be a good pseud.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 5:57 PM
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46

For a Sith Lord.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 5:58 PM
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47

I am at this very moment making pearsauce. Eliminating my problems with the texture of pears by turning them into mush!


Posted by: Blume | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 6:05 PM
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48

Odd that I don't blink at "applesauce" yet "pearsauce" looks funny to me.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 6:06 PM
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49

46: Racist.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 6:06 PM
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50

I just want to complain that I'm really unhappy with my parenting today even though I did the best I could in multiple challenging circumstances, including the one I hate most of all. Lee has also been pricily and inadequate, so I wish I could exile all or them right now. I keep reminding the girls that we can start again and do better tomorrow, but ugh.


Posted by: Thorn | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 6:16 PM
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51

49 to 48.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 6:17 PM
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52

I'm guessing prickly over other possibilities like icily, prissy, or pricey.


Posted by: heebie-heebie | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 6:20 PM
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I just want to complain that I'm really unhappy with my parenting today

Ugh, my sympathies. Usually when I feel this way I have not even, I think, done the best I really could with whatever (let's face it) mildly challenging circumstances arose. Are the girls in bed yet? Time for a drink?


Posted by: redfoxtailshrub | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 6:23 PM
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54

yet "pearsauce" looks funny to me

It looked funny to me too, yet seemed preferable to "applesauce with pears instead."


Posted by: Blume | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 6:27 PM
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55

Sauced-pears?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 6:43 PM
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53: Lee took some time to herself and we just divvied up bedtime. I got the easier bit, so there's a break calling my name in about 15 minutes. I mean, I really understand why they're showing behaviors that tell me they need me to be physically watching them at all times, but I really don't want to be at that stage right now. I know that backsliding is part of growth and this may well be the last time they're doing stupid things and then blatantly lying about them before vaulting out of that particular phase, but I basically want to curl up and cry. It will get better, and it could be so much worse, I know. Maybe I need to hit up their Halloween leftovers.


Posted by: Thorn | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 6:44 PM
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57

It's December. By law parents get any leftover candy.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 6:50 PM
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Pearsauce looks weird because if it reminds you of applesauce, then you want to say appearsauce, except 'plesauce and 'pearsauce.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 7:14 PM
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The Pirates of Pearsauce could be a not very good, food-based parody of the G&S musical.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 7:18 PM
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60

"The Pirates Take Off Their Pants" is probably an already existing porn parody of the same.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 7:20 PM
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60 inspired me to look up the big-budget 2005 porn extravaganza "Pirates" but then it didn't really enhance the joke that had already been made so instead I gave Wikipedia $10.


Posted by: k-sky | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 7:31 PM
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||

Don't ever change, New York Times:

The blog is Amnesty International meets Hugh Hefner as played by Jean Valjean, the unfairly hounded peasant of "Les Misérables."

|>


Posted by: Mr. Blandings | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 7:31 PM
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Wikipedia found five dollars twice.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 7:31 PM
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64

The Pirates of Sans Pants


Posted by: Mr. Blandings | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 7:32 PM
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64: Bravo!


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 7:34 PM
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That is better.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 7:35 PM
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the big-budget 2005 porn extravaganza "Pirates"

I know someone who did wardrobe for that movie!


Posted by: Blume | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 7:41 PM
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68

OT: "The New Era Pinstripe Bowl"? The fuck?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 7:47 PM
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I put the odds that our barely-one-half-block farmer's marker has a knife sharpener at about zero, for the record.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 7:51 PM
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13: Fuck you.

18: The angle doesn't have to be all that precise; it's just that the farther the angle is from the angle the edge is already at, the more time you'll have to spend grinding to get it sharp again. Generally, a more acute angle is sharper, but a more obtuse angle is sturdier (so if your knives are made with crappy metal or you're cutting really hard things, you'd prefer a more obtuse angle, whereas if you're doing detail work with soft items you'd prefer a more acute one).

31: Are we talking like a little nick, or a significant percentage of the blade? Nicks are easy to fix.


Posted by: Benquo | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 7:54 PM
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69: Sounds like an opportunity for you and Jammies to corner the market for local artisanal knife sharpening. Get the kids involved. What could possibly go wrong?


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 7:54 PM
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More to 10, 11, 13: Everyone with a dishwasher should have at least one bad-enough-to-stick-in-the-dishwasher knife for cutting when knife quality matters less than knife-cleaning time.


Posted by: Benquo | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 7:55 PM
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71: They could unknowingly violate some local small-business regulation or licensing law and wind up paying huge fines.


Posted by: Benquo | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 7:57 PM
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74

It also sounds like you should hire Benquo to train you.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 7:57 PM
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72: Knife-cleaning time in the dishwasher is 40 minutes, plus whatever amount of time before that until the dishwasher is full enough to run. How hard is it to clean a knife, even apart from the effect of the dishwasher on quality cutlery?


Posted by: Mr. Blandings | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:01 PM
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76

The bartender has started bringing a new beer without my asking. This could be dangerous, but it really cuts the wait.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:02 PM
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77

You actually don't have to monitor your dishwasher while it runs or while it's part full. Go read a book!


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:02 PM
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75, 77: Also, other stuff is being run in the dishwasher at the same time, so the marginal time cost is 0. And if we're talking about the crappy $5 grocery store knives, you could buy 5 of them and basically never need to wait until the dishwasher finishes running to have one ready to use.

Cleaning a knife by hand means I need to put on and take off my dishwashing gloves, which costs me a good 10 seconds. Not a big deal, except that it's just barely annoying enough that I procrastinate and end up leaving a dirty knife lying around for days.


Posted by: Benquo | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:06 PM
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79

"Mein Kampf" is a book, antisemite.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:07 PM
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80

78.1 is right.
78.2: The gloves aren't actually required.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:09 PM
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81

80.2: For me they are; my hands dry out and start flaking if I hand-wash stuff without gloves more than once in a week.


Posted by: Benquo | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:11 PM
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82

80.2 some people do. Bonsaisue, if she does not, turns her hand into an alligator-like mess for long periods.


Posted by: Turgid Jacobian | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:12 PM
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My hands get cracks so deep they bleed unless I keep them dry and covered every night in steroids. So I just let them bleed. Fucking peripheral appendages. I can only spare time to take care of one and no finger rates that high.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:17 PM
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Why are you all still arguing about this when Frowner told you exactly what to do a long time ago?

Also, how do you buy a house in Texas without the realtor checking to make sure you know how to sharpen your own knives? Remember the Alamo!


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:19 PM
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OK, the glove issue changes the calculation. I would definitely sign on to "everyone with a dishwasher and a washing-aggravated skin condition should have at least one bad-enough-to-stick-in-the-dishwasher knife".


Posted by: Mr. Blandings | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:22 PM
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86

Hardcore knife snobbery is EVERYWHERE on the internet. I'm pretty sure I've never met anyone in real life who sharpens knives. Even when I was surrounded by hipsters.


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:27 PM
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Just because I agree with Frowner doesn't mean other people don't need to be told how wrong they are.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:29 PM
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88

They also make sponge-on-a-stick things to clean things without touching them.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:29 PM
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89

My grandfather sharpened his knives. I don't think he considered himself to be a hipster, but they would have welcomed him, given the pipe and sweaters.


Posted by: text | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:29 PM
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90

It looked funny to me too, yet seemed preferable to "applesauce with pears instead."

I was imagining "pear sauce" as the alternative.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:31 PM
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86: I sharpen our knives but I do a shitty job of it.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:31 PM
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All of the restaurants I ever worked at had their knives sharpened a few times a year. It may have been tied in to the towel-service contract. Speaking of which, having towel service at home would be sweet. I'm an excellent mess maker.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:32 PM
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All of the restaurants I ever worked at had their knives sharpened a few times a year.

I think my sister at least touched up her knives a few times a week.


Posted by: | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:33 PM
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88: I should probably get one of those to spare my sponge hand, though the other hand is still at risk.


Posted by: Benquo | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:33 PM
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95

Tongs?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:39 PM
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You're welcome.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:40 PM
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97

I must have a funny accent.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:41 PM
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98

The knife sharpeners you can get at hardware stores work really well - the sharpening stones (whet stones?) form a v so they automatically give you the right angle (for non-Japanese) blades. The sharpeners are about $10 and consist of a handle with the stones at one end and a plastic guard to protect your fingers. The first time I used it, it was a little awkward - hold the knife blade up on a counter edge and moving the sharpener over it but now sharpen my knives all the time and def notice a difference.


Posted by: hydrobatidae | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:44 PM
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99

I need sharp knives for all the chopping I have to do for my homemade canned relishes and chutney.


Posted by: hydrobatidae | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:49 PM
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100

...officerz.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 8:56 PM
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101

Blood sausage


Posted by: hydrobatidae | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 9:09 PM
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102

Haven't read the whole thread, but I'm pretty sure from my ye old consulting days that rearranging the stores every so often is intentional. When you shop, you have certain things that you buy and once you know where they are, you go to them and put them in your cart. If you have to hunt a little, you're more likely to spot something new and try it.


Posted by: Cala | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 10:38 PM
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103

Some stores carry the "make them hunt" thing too far.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 10:44 PM
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104

Moby: you don't actually need guacamole mix to make guacamole. You can make a bare-minimum guac with spices you already have around, e.g.:

-avocado
-jarred salsa
-black pepper
-cumin

Boom. Semi-homemade.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 10:57 PM
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I tried it once. Apparently, you need the avocados to be soft or something. Anyway, I'm now just eating pre-made. Which is still in three different places in the store, the fuckers.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 10:59 PM
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Guacamole = avocados, minced peppers, finely diced white onions, and cilantro. Diced tomatoes, line and salt are optional. Cumin: wtf?


Posted by: foolishmortal | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 11:21 PM
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107

My store doesn't sell lines.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 11:23 PM
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108

Oh, yeah. Cilantro, too, if you got it. Cumin features in all Tex-Mex dishes in my crappy kitchen.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 11:24 PM
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109

Also, I doubt salt is optional if I'm going to eat it.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 2-12 11:24 PM
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110

Reminds me of:
How do you make tahini?
1. Get some tahini.
2. Add water, lemon juice, salt, garlic.


Posted by: Awl | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 1:29 AM
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They did that with my local Stop & Shop too but it was even more annoying in that they simply swapped the arrangements within the aisles. So what used to be on the left side of the aisle is now on the right and vice versa. It is very disorienting.

Surely the more conservative explanation is that Barry himself has been swapped left to right, like the chap in "The Plattner Experiment". Did you use to be right-handed?


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 2:51 AM
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112

I find one of these is fine for sharpening any non-serrated knife (inc. boning knives), and a lot cheaper than paying somebody else to do it.


Posted by: chris y | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 5:22 AM
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111 Well, I've always been inconsistently ambidextrous, so there is that. Of course, I may have neglected to perform the chirality check last time I leapt between universes.


Posted by: Barry Freed | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 5:54 AM
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I don't have any fancy knives, so what I do have all goes in the dishwasher. I think there is a fancy knife in the offing, though, so I suppose I should buy a sharpener. I don't know anybody who gets knives sharpened.


Posted by: emir | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 5:57 AM
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115

114. I can recommend the one in 112.


Posted by: chris y | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 5:59 AM
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116

Hofstadtahini's law:

It always takes more water, lemon juice, salt, garlic than you think, even when you take into account Hofstadtahini 's law.


Posted by: Benquo | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 6:11 AM
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Also, how do you buy a house in Texas without the realtor checking to make sure you know how to sharpen your own knives?
In Texas, people sharpen knives by shooting them.


Posted by: Ginger Yellow | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 6:11 AM
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118

116 to 110


Posted by: Benquo | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 6:11 AM
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119

boning knives

What kind of NC-17 cutlery slash are you people peddling?


Posted by: Mister Smearcase | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 10:54 AM
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31: I've scanned the thread, so forgive me if someone has already answered, but yes, they'll be able to do something with it. Depending on how big the notch is, they may have to take quite a bit off - so, in essence, it will be a bit of a different knife than it was before, but it will be usable.

I'm sad y'all had the knife sharpening discussion while I wasn't here. As a purveyor now of fine knives, sharpeners, I could actually have been of use! (Also, cookshops often have a regular knife sharpening service. We do, at any rate. However, I doubt there's one in Heebie's town.)

Also, Heebie - buy yourself a pull through sharpener with ceramic wheels (or diamond, I'm just a fan of ceramic as it takes less steel off the edge) to touch up your knives in between taking them to a professional sharpener. It'll put the right angle on your blade, is nearly impossible to use incorrectly, and will keep your knives sharper for longer.


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 11:20 AM
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121

Something like this?


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 11:24 AM
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My hands get cracks so deep they bleed unless I keep them dry and covered every night in steroids. So I just let them bleed. Fucking peripheral appendages. I can only spare time to take care of one and no finger rates that high.

Same here. It's so, so aggravating. I end up looking like I have leprosy half the time.

Hardcore knife snobbery is EVERYWHERE on the internet.

While this is true, I think most people with good knives sharpen them. I sharpened my crappy Martha Stewart ones all the time. It makes it a lot less likely that you'll cut yourself.


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 11:26 AM
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121: Yes, but you don't have to go that expensive, either. Do you have German knives?


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 11:27 AM
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124

Is that one expensive? I didn't see a price.

...I don't know. My parents gave us them.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 11:29 AM
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I sharpen my knives on a rock I found in a stream.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 11:31 AM
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I really like the Chef's Choice brand. Their cheapest two-stage pull through is with diamond, and is excellent for German knives. The Wusthof ceramic pull through sharpener (as here) is great as well. If you have Japanese knives, especially Globals, I think the MinoSharp ones are the best, but they're pricier.


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 11:32 AM
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124: I was just guessing it was because it looked 'fancy.' If you know the name of your knives, I'm happy to recommend something more specific. (You can always send me a picture or something, too. Then again, that might be more work than you really want to do.)


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 11:33 AM
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Using those ceramic knife sharpeners makes a sound like nails on a chalkboard.


Posted by: urple | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 11:34 AM
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It makes it a lot less likely that you'll cut yourself.

I still believe this to be true, but my two knife injuries this year were both with sharp knives. One while washing, the other while finely slicing a radish.

Are those counter-top stones better than a steel, or just less intimidating? I always thought the angle was much lower than 45 degrees, more like 15-25.


Posted by: k-sky | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 11:39 AM
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big-budget 2005 porn extravaganza "Pirates"

I had no idea that this existed, although I suppose it was a no-brainer given the popularity of the PoTC franchise.

Discoveries like this are why I read unfogged.


Posted by: AcademicLurker | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 11:40 AM
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129: The steels just hone in on the knife. They don't actually sharpen. Honing merely takes an edge that is still good and lines it back up.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 11:42 AM
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Yeah, I say this, and then I slice my finger open while washing up all the time. (Well, twice. It feels like all the time.)

It seems to be common wisdom among the knife reps (even the ones who sell steels) that pull throughs or whetstones are in fact better than steels, as it is insanely difficult to use a steel in such a way that you're hitting the exact angle every time, and instead are putting several edges to your blade rather than a single one. But they're still very popular, even among hardcore knife snobs and chefs. Depending on the knife, the angle is between 15 and 25, usually.


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 11:44 AM
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They don't actually sharpen.

That, too.


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 11:45 AM
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it's a bad luck to gift knives a superstition goes, so i remember i bought a bread knife the first thing i did in japan only to find that all the breads in the supermarkets are in slices, except the french variety
if one has to discard a knife, has to break off its sharp point, to not lose one's that, mojo like thing, i guess, another traditional superstition, so i remember once i had to try to break a small knife, maybe that was that same japanese knife when i was leaving, dont remember now, a pretty difficult task, to break stainless steel


Posted by: | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 11:47 AM
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119: Everything old is new again.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 12- 3-12 11:54 AM
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