LeeAbe
1867
My favorite plates are from a pottery place called East Fork, but they are extremely expensive ($50 a plate), so I only bought a couple. I bought some Made In “entree bowls” as well, which are a cross between a plate and bowl that I have found incredibly handy, but they do not fit in the dishwasher as easily.
Funny. My wife and I got a ton of plates from a restaurant supply chain that are heavy in the way you describe (square porcelain white plates.) While they are occasionally nice, they feel super impractical for day to day use. They were also more bulky so took up more space in the dish washer (it was like having double slot GPUs!) We swapped over to thinner plates for day to day and really appreciate how much more simple they are to use and take care of.
These things are heavy
We still have nice plates (and a set of china, but dishwasher safe china that can’t go in the microwave) that we bust out for holidays, etc. But we found it was just too much trouble to deal with super heavy stuff.
Timex
1870
Yeah, that’s actually what I’ve used thus far instead of adding in sugar.
The sorbet’s are reasonably healthy, in that they’re maybe 150 calories for a whole pint of it, which is probably more than you’d want to eat in a sitting.
The ice cream stuff can be made reasonably healthy compared to a lot of ice cream, in that you can reduce the fat content. There’s certainly an impact on the texture of the final product when you cut the fat and sugar content down, as those things tend to make ice cream more creamy, but from my initial experiment, even using just 2% milk still made a pretty good ice cream, albeit a bit more “icy” than the ideal consistency.
Skipper
1871
As a single guy some 8 years ago I figured I needed to up my kitchenware game a bit. I went from cheap mixed set plates and silverware to at least nice stoneware and a semi-decent silverware set.
Like you I went to some local places and was blown away at how much a full set of stoneware costs, not to mention I felt I would likely break something and then be forever unable to find the set again. Sooo, I ended up only taking one step up from Corelle but went with a nicer set from Pfaltzgraff. And I’m happy I went in that direction. I stayed away from local pottery places and the like and in my case, I’ve had no issues with replacements for broken items I’ve had, twice.
The same with silverware, I wanted to step up from el-cheapo, but didn’t go that far up the chain and stayed with stainless steel and Oneida (or Reed and Barton, same company now I believe.) You can get as fancy as you want there and still not break the bank too badly. And once you know which set you have, replacements or additions are extremely easy.
The only problem with anything I did is it happened pre-marriage, and of course my wife hates everything I got. So … here’s to the next round.
Matt_W
1872
I’m still using the chipped and well-used cheap porcelain plates and bowls that my ex and I bought from Costco when we were first married more than 20 years ago. They’re entirely functional and when I entertain it’s usually outside on paper plates, so no need to upgrade. I expect they’ll last me until death.
My wife and I went the opposite direction to everyone in this thread. When married we were gifted with a very nice and extensive set of stoneware. For the first eight years of marriage or so we used those but got tired of the weight/bulk. So we acquired cheap Corelle stuff from Target about a decade ago and still use it to this day. It turns out light and sturdy are our favorite qualities for daily use.
LeeAbe
1874
My father in his old age went completely to eating over the sink, off the cutting board, out of the pan, or from paper towels/plates. His rationale was why dirty up dishes just for him? I am the opposite, the older I get the more I want to improve the eating experience. For years I ate from the couch in front of the TV or a computer. A few years back I bought a dining room table and now I sit down at the table for meals (still with a computer on the table though).
Skipper
1875
We’ve been creeping in this direction except with paper plates. The nicer kind you can even rinse and dry off since they have a coating. This means that, especially during COVID, I would frequently use the same paper plate multiple times and seriously cut down on dishes. Or even if not, I would hand wash the things that I used and reuse them later in the day.
When my wife and I got married, we needed lots of stuff including silverware and so we went to lots of warehouse sales trying to pick up stuff fort he household at a discount. Mikasa had an annual warehouse sale then and we grabbed a specific set because everybody else was grabbing it. One of the best purchases. Everything is solidly made, with a nice heft to them without being heavy. We liked it so much we went to the warehouse sale the next year and grabbed another set.
RichVR
1877
Forks. We always need more forks.
stusser
1878
Paper plates are fine, so long as they’re coated so they don’t immediately disintegrate.
Plastic utensils, on the other hand, are abominations. The only acceptable disposable eating utensils are chopsticks where the cheap bamboo Chinese takeout ones are actually better because they don’t slip.
Please try your Nice Chinese Food With Chopsticks
the traditional and typical of Chinese glonus history. and cultual
RichVR
1881
I actually have a pair of collapsible Japanese hashi. They unscrew like little pool cues.
LeeAbe
1882
I was reading reviews of carbon steel pans on Amazon. It’s amazing the amount of people who buy these things, have no idea how to use them, don’t read directions, and then post a review. “It rusted after my first use!” “Everything sticks to it!” “It warped using it on an electric range!” The top review for one pan is complaining about the handle, she never used it and sent it back.
Got to wonder if selling on Amazon is worth putting up with crap like that.
RichVR
1883
These same people probably wouldn’t know how to treat cast iron as well.
Houngan
1884
Though I always have a few dozen of the intermediate ones in a little pottery thing on my counter and put them through the dishwasher, they last forever. Once you’re good with them they are so convenient vs. tongs or silverware while cooking. The 1.99 pack of 25 from any Chinese market are quite robust.
Odd question, but I’m starting from 0 knowledge, so maybe better to hire someone local to help. But I’m looking to motorize my noodle machine and have no idea where/what to start googling. It’s this big thing: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07W4JFM5K
I figured some sort of belt instead of directly attaching to the axle and a pedal for ‘go’. Noodle production is the major headache when doing popups, so looking to speed it up a little bit.
I’m also getting a big meat mixer (I use 3 stand mixers for a dough batch), but seems I could use a cordless drill to drive that. The dough is sand-like and mixed for 10 minutes total in 2 sections.
A belt and/or gearing for speed adjustment makes sense. For home use, we use the attachment for a KithenAid mixer, so it relies on the mixer speed. Are you looking to use the pedal for speed tuning, or just an on/off switch? If the latter, I’d think a plain toggle would be fine if that’s easier.
For a pre-made solution, something like this seems like what you’re looking for. I’m not sure how to find out if it would or wouldn’t attach cleanly to your machine, though. I don’t know if those connections are at all standardized or not.
