FORKS





my garden fork

Once again I find myself being led by the up-coming "photo of the day" prompt in helping me choose my topic for the Thursday 13.

 

Consider all the different directions you can go in doing a quick brainstorming exercise around the word FORK.  For instance, think of all the different geographical locations with the word FORK in the name: Forks, WA, Roaring Fork River in Colorado, Grand Forks ND, and then there is all of the ranches with the word FORK in the name, the most famous being Southfork from the televisions series Dallas. Intrestingly enough, the Southfork ranch is now a conference and event center located in Parker, Texas.   

In doing a little research I learned an amazing fact: there are 13, yes, I said exactly 13 different dining forks. Now how convenient it would be to just make the list and share the photo and we'd be finished with the list for this week.

illustration of various forks types by Julia Rothman

Hold on there, Tiger. Not quite so fast. Let's make our list of forks a little more personalized and see what I can come up with on my own just brainstorming all the different kinds of forks I've used in the past and maybe, just maybe, even have nearly all of them in my home at this very moment .. I wonder ... beginning with the obvious and then moving to some that may be a little more obscure ...

 

 

1. salad forks, luncheon forks, and dinner forks ... I use the salad forks the most; not because I'm eating a lot of salads, but because I feel like I could be scratching my tonsils when I  use the dinner forks with their loooonnng tines!
2. dessert forks ... I threw all of these in together but I did learn and interesting fact today: that odd shaped fork in the buffet silverware drawer is an ice cream fork. Personally, I have a hard enough time eating my pie or cake with a fork so I can't imagine trying to eat my ice cream with a fork. Moving on ... the list wouldn't be complete without mentioning the ubiquitous
3. fork in the road ... and then there is the ...
4. pitch fork for the barn
5. spading fork for the garden and
6. gardening fork for scratching in the dirt on my hands and knees ... and back to the kitchen ...
7. foley fork (my mom gave this one to me and I love it!)
8. fondue fork
9. pasta fork (a weird scoop shaped spoon/fork that works great for scooping noodles out of the pan)
10. lobster fork and oyster fork
11. pickle fork, relish fork, and olive fork ... MIL always gets out her olive fork when serving up the relish trays during the holidays and family gatherings ... and, of course, I don't have one of these in the garage but I do love it when my neighbor brings his over to help me load in the pellets for the winter heat ...
12. fork lift ... and what musician family could possibly be without a ...
13. tuning fork!

Forks did not receive a warm welcome in the dining halls of the western world for many years. In fact several religious leaders declared forks to be immoral evil utensils of the devil. To quote the opinion of several prominent religious writers of the early 17th century, "God in his wisdom has provided man with natural forks – his fingers. Therefore it is an insult to Him to substitute artificial metallic forks for them when eating."

 

Go here to learn more about the history of forks and to see some beautiful museum pieces of a common everyday tool, a must-have for every kitchen. And, have fun with the dinner table conversation next time you get together with friends.

 

... go HERE to read more interesting lists from the Thursday 13 players ...