In case I haven't mentioned it before, it is my mom is the one who taught me how to cook and bake. I learned everything I needed to know about the kitchen from her. There are two legacies that she has passed down to me, first is her love for God and the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus and the second is cooking and cooking from scratch more importantly. The saying may go, everything you need to know you learned in kindergarten but my saying is everything I needed to know about the kitchen, I learned from my mom.
Why am I doing this series? I believe that knowing how to use kitchen tools properly is important and will help you make better food. Knowing how to master your kitchen is like your job, you must have certain appliances to help you do your job better and kitchen tools are the same. This series is about knowledge and then hopefully help you realize that cooking isn't all that bad, it is just about knowing how to use your tools properly.
Check out the previous installments about a zester, food processor, dutch oven, stand mixer, and a metal steamer, and a peeler.
In this next installment, I am taking about the good old fashioned tongs, a tool I never used much, gave much thought to, or never said to myself, "man, I wish I really had a pair of tongs right now." However, I am glad I put them on our wedding registry and someone was kind enough to purchase them for us because I use them a lot, a lot more than I ever expected.
A few uses for tongs could be when browning meat and you need to brown the other side or sides. When cooking chicken, tongs will help you to flip the chicken. Tongs are great for pulling corn on the cob or eggs or ramekins out of boiling water. Tongs are not ideal for soft foods like fish. A popular vegetable this time of year, asparagus can easily be taken from a saucepan or steamer with a pair of tongs.
If you are serving pieces of fruit, or cubes of cheese, tongs are a great serving tool. Tongs can be great stirring devices like spaghetti noodles in the sauce. Tongs are useful devices if you dropped something in between your stove and the counter and your fingers are too big to reach. If you need to reach something in the back of your cupboard and your arms aren't quite long enough, reach with the tongs.
Tongs came in stainless and stainless nylon varieties. Be careful if you have all-stainless tongs, don't rest it on a hot surface for a long time the heat will transfer into the tongs.
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14 comments:
Great post- I think one should know her way around the kitchen, too. And after reading this I'm thinking I don't have enough types of tongs in my utensil crock... Off to Bed Bath and Beyond! :)
Happy Thursday!
-Ashley
http://lestylorouge.com
I love this series – so helpful! I'm a big fan of tongs for sautéing greens that like to jump out of the pan until they cook down – makes them easy to maneuver.
Sea and Swank
I my gosh you are so RIGHT! I never thought I would need tongs until I used them for a while and realized I can't live without them anymore haha! This series sounds like a great idea! I'd love to hear your thoughts on standing mixers. I'm kind of obsessed with how much I want them and I'm told they're basically the best thing ever...
<3becky
www.loosefromthezoo.com
i need to go back and read all of these posts...i really enjoy cooking, but i'm terrible at baking...AND clueless at how to use a lot of these items you've written about. BUT, I use tongs all the time :)
You know what's funny is my mom cooked a TON but she never really took the time to teach me. But I guess it somehow rubbed off on me, just her example and now I LOVE it. I've had to learn everything by trial and error but it's so worth it.
Moms really are the best. Wisdom galore!!
Http://streetlily.blogspot.com
What a great post. I recently bought a pair of tongs, thinking I wouldn't get much use out of them, and now I find myself using them ALL THE TIME. I wonder how I lived without them. :)
www.shannonheartsblog.com
Hmmm... I don't think I have any tongs, I'll have to pick some up!
Um okay, I love that you are doing this! It's a great idea and I'm not going to lie, I could use a lot of lessons when it comes to the actual tools in the kitchen! So excited for this!
What a cool kitchen series! I learned how to shop from my mom, but the kitchen.....not so much. My husband's cooking puts mine to shame. I do have a lot of gadgets, though and my pampered chef tongs are one of my favorites.
Ginny
mynewfavoriteoutfit.blogspot.com
I need to invest in some better tongs. Mine are so flimsy, but I always forget to look while I'm out!
My Mom taught me those two things well too:) There is nothing like a good pair of tongs! I love this series btw!
good advice on tongs...I am not good in the kitchen and my mom is okay...I just don't think we have the cooking gene hahaha. I made some bread-crusted chicken last night...I burned it :( oh well it didn't taste too bad hahaha
A good pair of tongs is definitely a big help! I am still working on learning my way around a kitchen, but my husband is a real master.
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