Additional Knifery

That is a 1956 MGA that was rebodied with an aftermarket body in the 1960s
More details than you'd ever want unless you are a car geek, here https://www.rhodo.citymax.com/Jamaican.html

The photos of the engine mounts are on a Gaja owc. Show off.

With the car so low is it troublesome to get in and out of?

Wasn't actually showing off, but happened to have the Gaja case in the garage to make some templates out of and they were about the only thing that wasn't greasy to take a photo on.

Fortunately for my back, the doors are quite long (and the seating position very laid back) so I don't have much trouble getting in and out. My MGA coupe is much worse as it has short doors and I have to fold myself into it by diving for the opposite door and trying to pull my legs in, which is a literal pain since I had a knee replacement. If it was a roadster I wouldn't have that problem. Fortunately the car behind it, my daily driver Solstice coupe, has a longer door and decently high window profile.

That's cool. I started a GT-40 kit car on a VW chassis in the late '60s, but sold it when I moved to NM. My other neat cars were a '72 Opel GT and a '76 Lancia Beta Coupe. The salt in MN ruined the Lancia (wish I still had it), but I still have the Opel parked here, upon which the sun has done its damage. But I need to get rid of it.

[Jenise]

Bill, I'll take a picture and post it. It's German, as you might expect, and still in the German box. I've never seen a tool like this in America.

While we are discussing cutting implements, I am with Alton Brown on unitaskers like this one. Who would want a pie cutter when you have a large chef's knife? Ditto for pizza cutters (the rolling wheel type). We just get out the large chef's knife for that job. Is there any specific job where a roller style cutter would be better than a conventional knife edge?

(Hey Jenise - maybe we should have a get together to celebrate nest spargelzeit - spargel season (but apparently it has to be before June 24, St. John the Baptist day). https://germanfoods.org/german-food-fac ... n-germany/

[Jenise]

Don't own one but I can defend that. If I made two pies every Sunday for the church lunch, as some people in America still do, I'd probably consider a pie cutter a great tool. Not just for ease but for the neat, equal portions. And I do own a pizza wheel. I only rarely make pizzas, but when I do it's often a group thing wherein I make three, say. All of which are rectangular, filling a whole quarter sheet pan and yielding 15 squares. And I like a crispy bottom crust which is tougher to cut, so a pizza wheel does more accurate work than a chefs knife would, and much more quickly.

What she said. The real value of a unitasker is whether you do whatever-it-is often enough. Cut up one pizza, use a knife. Cut up a dozen pizzas, use a roller.

I agree, Jeff (I worked as a pizza cook for awhile when in university) a roller cutter is faster when doing dozens of pies, but for the odd one, which is all anyone not doing it for a living would do (with the notable exception of Jenise, who seems to specialize in feeding the masses), the large knife is better, as not having a unitasker leaves more room for other utensils in the drawer.

[Jenise]

And I like those 15 squares to be evenly cut even if it's just for Bob and I. The pizza wheel does that better than I might do with a knife, owing to the speed with which it cuts while rolling away from you.

I'm not a fan of unitaskers, but I'm a fan of efficiency and I do find a few of them make life better--and I have the room to store them.

Anyone else have meatball scoops? The kind with the handle you squeeze to release the formed ball, which might be meatballs or cookie dough or god knows what. I not just one, but four. Not used often, but indispensable for uniformity when needed.

Nope. I have an ice cream scoop and a double-headed melon baller but those are just cups, no mechanism for releasing the food.

I have a chestnut piercer, which I dislike. That may be the oddest equipment in my kitchen.

Last night I ordered a carbon steel cleaver from the WokShop that's close to the measurements of my present one (or the original measurements). Over the past 30 yrs or so, I've ground down the edge enough that I've lost about 1/2 inch in width. It still cuts like a microtome, though.

I'll keep you updated on it.

I'll keep you updated on it.

We'll need pictures!

. It still cuts like a microtome, though.
.

Wow, not often I see references to my one of my tools of trade (before I retired anyway)
You must get reallly, really thin sections in your kitchen, cool,!

[Jenise]

Speaking of knifery, I was super impressed in China to see this woman peeling a jicama with a five inch cleaver. The picture doesn't adequately convey how FAST she was.

DSC00762.JPG

. It still cuts like a microtome, though.
.

Wow, not often I see references to my one of my tools of trade (before I retired anyway)
You must get reallly, really thin sections in your kitchen, cool,!

Been there, also done that (in university). That is about the sharpest thinnest blade you can get, yet it still requires the tissue to be stabilized somehow (wax, frozen - this was back in the 70s so nothing as fancy as there is today, couldn't just whip out a laser like they can today!)

Come to think of it, when we do a raw meat carpaccio we are really just emulating a cryostat when we whip it into the freezer for a bit before slicing it!

I'm having some trouble navigating this website. How do you upload an image?

[Robin Garr]

Linus-library.jpg

Larry, the designers of the forum software didn't make it easy.

Briefly, though, start a message, and as you enter your text, you'll notice a button underneath marked "Upload attachment." Click it, and it will open a form that reads, "If you wish to attach one or more files enter the details below." Click the small "choose file" button, and your computer will open a folder on your computer. Select an image file (.jpg or .gif) and click submit, and the name of the image will appear next to "choose file." Then fill in File comment with a caption (optional), and click the "add the file" button.

Once you've done that, click "Place inline" so the image will show in your message. The necessary code will pop in at the top of your post. You can select, copy, and move it to a different location if you want to.

Now, a gotcha: If the picture is bigger than 800 by 800 pixels, it won't work. And it will only work on desktop computers, not smartphones or tablets. .

Also, this is the method to upload a file from your own files. If you want to share a picture you find on the internet, there's a different system. Ask me about this if you want to know.

See, told ya it was a little complicated. But you can do it!

Two cleavers.jpg

My new cleaver arrived a couple of days ago. It's beautiful and sharp as a razor. Above it is my old Atlas Hong Kong #4 that I bought at a garage sale in Minneapolis about 30 years ago for $1.50. It's my favorite knife, and I use it 90% of the time.

The new one was only 10 bucks. One small hassle: the blade tang that's bent over to secure the handle is sharp and protrudes just a bit over the handle's edge. A couple of minutes with a flat file will fix that easily, though.

Looks vicious Larry - you could advertise for a position as a headsman!

That Atlas Hong Kong is a dead ringer for the Chinese cleaver that I bought back in the 1970s, and still use today for almost anything. I use a swiveling peeler for peeling jicamas and whatnot, though.

-Paul W.

Without a doubt, it's the knife I use the most. It's also handy for draining water from something cooked in a pan, just like I did an hour ago.

If it's the same as mine, you should see Atlas Hong Kong #4 (or other number) stamped on the left side of the blade. You can still find them online in range of $30 or so.

Do you have an image?