apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

:-D oh dear. i guess it is a sign of old age when people start collecting the stuff you are using in your kitchen ever since you had one of your own ...

14 years ago i packed up and left a long-term relationship, taking with me the kitchen stuff that had been sitting in boxes in the attic for 15 years, and when i unpacked it in my now home, i had a good laugh, because it was all in brown and yellow - and a lot of it was Rosti. i still have many of those things, and use them, too.

now i feel really old :-P

ohhhhh. i have a rosti pitcher in orange! i love it!

The spoon with the whole in it! We had (parents still have) it in brown and I think the only thing it was ever used for was mixing orange juice from concentrate.

I think the spoon with the hole in it is a salad spoon?

it is? I thought that was for some kind of dough - (guessing). Cute collection.

I had the spoon with the hole in red- I used it to stir sauces.

I think it's for measuring spaghetti.

I love the collection, and I also love that this post contains words like "I", "me" and "mine".

"I" ??? what happened to "we". I think I like it. Not sure. The "we" felt there was a little space between you and me. Now I feel like there's a real person behind the post, but I kinda feel like "woah, that's a little bit personal!"

Go figure.

The spoon-with-a-hole is for kneading dough and stirring thick batter.
In my mothers kitchen (in Denmark) the best one was a dark purple one, because it had a pointy end :).
I now own a red one (without a pointy end).
Apart from kneading dough, it is also used to stir minced meat for instance for frikadeller.

I've seen spoons with holes used for stirring risotto. But reading the comments, it seems they serve several functions. :)

why on earth does anyone want to cook or eat, drink from plastic?

I love these!!

Pigletliver--I color coded my mixing spoons and cutting boards after the disastrous onion flavored apple pie incident. Everything red is for making desserts. The rest mostly wooden utensils, cutting boards and metal spoons is for everything else. Since you're usually handling mostly cold ingredients for making desserts, using plastic hasn't been a problem.

These tools are also probably made from ABS a very durable and stable plastic.

LoriSF, not plastic, they are, or at least were, made of melamine.

Designed by Sigvard Bernadotte who was an uncle of the Swedish King.

Shut up Lori

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melamine

"Melamine is combined with formaldehyde to produce melamine resin, a very durable thermosetting plastic used in Formica, and melamine foam, a polymeric cleaning product. The end products include countertops, dry erase boards, fabrics, glues, housewares and flame retardants. Melamine is one of the major components in Pigment Yellow 150, a colorant in inks and plastics."

It not only says it's a plastic, the article itself refers to the types of bad things that can happen to you if you ingest or absorb any through the skin. I do think in the form of spoons and stuff, it's not in a form where you'd eat it or could absorb into the skin, however - it's not plastic, it's melamine isn't exactly comforting or true.

And what else - we didn't fully know the effects of the chemicals in "ordinary" plastic to leach into foods and water that it contains, so what do we know about melamine so far? Could it be harmful to you? I don't have that answer. Also, when you would choose plastic flatware over stainless, or a plastic cup over a glass, let me know. I mean, there's something about plastic, here, that's supposed to be modern but still tastes, feels, and looks cheap. Full disclosure: I do have some (mixing bowls and some Tupperware plates and cereal bowls) in my kitchen. It is practical, after all, and they were pink!

I love all of these and I doubt any of mine are Rosti, but am well familiar with the brand. If you go to any good kitchen shop, they will often sell Rosti, if not Heller too.

One word of caution, do not put your salad tongs in the same crock w/ the rest of the cooking utensils, especially if they are NOT heat proof, some of the lesser plastic ones are not intended for cooking. I store mine in a drawer to help avoid this. My best friend had a set of Coptco plastic salid bowl set I'd given him for Christmas one year years ago and he used to put his tongs in the crock next to the stove and a good friend grabbed one and tried to cook with it...

I find that the quality melamine utensils to look nice, it's the cheaper ones, sometimes w/ their raw edges that look cheap.

I have several in various colors of red, yellow and blue and a shallow strainer in teal that I use daily along with wooden spoons and spatulas and 3 flexible spatulas in silicone and 2 flippers, 2 cheapie nylon ones, one I've had for years and is a little discolored these days.

The softer more flexible nylon or wooden utensils work great on non stick cookware for they don't scratch. Melamine can since it's rigid, just an FYI

automatic thanks for the clarification and historical reference did not know. There is a store on Divisadero Street in SF called Cookin' I have seen them there before for you collectors.

labchick no one has told me to shut up since the third grade, LOL.

Cookin' is a great store in the best tradition of crotchety-but-helpful shopkeepers. And I love the hanging egg separator!

KTC you are correct that Melamine is a type of plastic, with all the problems that this this brings (melamine in your milk anyone?), but what I meant was that these bowls are not made of flimsy ordinary plastic but have a better feel to them.

Have also seen these in stainless steel. Much more expensive than the plastic ones, but great looking and should last a lifetime.