Favorite Things Fridays - Chopsticks

Chopsticks are used on a daily basis in our household. I'm proud to say I've mastered them, thanks to a very good teacher. I'm quite impatient, so if I can do it, you can too! The first time Chou taught me how to properly wield these crazy wooden sticks we were eating dumplings. Dumpling skins are incredibly slippery and quite challenging for the experienced user. I'm pretty sure I finished that meal way before I was actually full because my hand was tired and my patience long gone. I've come a long way since then and am proud to say I spent a full ten days in Taiwan my first time before anyone offered me a fork (after dropping my breakfast between the plate and my mouth like three times in a row with a set of chopsticks). However, I'll never match Chou's skills. Not long ago he was eating quinoa with chopsticks and he had not a drop left in his plate. Meanwhile I was using a spoon and still managed to have a bowl full of grinims* at the end.

I never realized how versatile chopsticks can be, and used to tease Chou for the crazy things he'd use them for. Now, however, I find myself reaching for our wooden sticks all the time! 

Here are some of our favorite uses for chopsticks:

E uses them as teethers. They're lightweight and a perfect shape for her to reach her back molars.

I often grab one to stir a drink or smoothie. They're a great shape to mix contents of a glass.

When the lint builds up in the dryer, I use chopsticks to reach into the lint screen slat to remove all the excess lint. (Just don't drop one! I have no clue how you'd recover it.)

They're great for snatching lasagna noodles out of the boiling water (it doesn't get much more multi-cultural than that!) :)

I often use them as a utensil with which to eat my food. I know, who would have thought?

When E plays in dog food and kibble ends up under the washer/fridge/stove, chopsticks are great for reaching into tight spaces sliding all the goodies back out.

Chou has been known to use them to flip pancakes. Still not sure about this one ;)

Although not quite as good as toothpicks, chopsticks can be inserted into baked goods to test for done-ness.

Chomping on those molars

It's always good to keep chopsticks close by. You never know when you'll need to use them!

Hint: if you're loving boyfriend ever coerces you into eating dumplings with chopsticks, just stab one straight into the center of the little bugger dumpling and use the other to gently guide it to your mouth. And in true Asian fashion, just stuff the whole thing in your mouth if you want a fighting chance of not going to bed hungry.

*grinims - (n) the remnants of food left in a plate after one has finished eating; the often crusty crumbs remaining in the baking dish after one has served the food. Use: 1.The best part of mac 'n cheese is devouring the crusty grinims after dinner. 2. She soaked the pan to loosen the burnt grinims. Origin: The Krasowski family.