Maybe it's because I lived alone for several years, but I've never been one to linger at the table during or after a meal. I'd fix my food, sit down just long enough to devour it, and then immediately leap up, clean my dishes, and go on with my evening. I know I should savor it a little more, but my impatience takes over. (Obviously, dinner with friends is another story).

But if you regularly linger at your table, or spend time chatting with meal companions, this bowl with a spoon rest might be just for you. No more resting your spoon on your bowl or dirtying your tablecloth - if you want to take a break from eating, just prop your spoon in its little seat until you're ready to chow again.

Conveniently, the spoon comes with the bowl, so it fits perfectly, although I can't promise that just any ol' spoon would do the trick. Although for $21, you might just want to just stick your spoon on a place mat and be done with it.

[via] Boing Boing

Every time you turn around, there's a new brightly-colored, cleverly-named kitchen product adorned with google-y eyes and baring a twenty dollar price tag. We've all come across these products, smiled, cooed, and handed over our Visa, only to get them home and dizzily wonder, What the heck was I thinking? The utensil then sits unused, in your junk drawer, until, in a furious bout of spring cleaning three years later, you stumble upon it and have absolutely no idea what it is.

Don't feel bad. We've all done this. It's awful fun to peruse these items at stores, play with them, and make them into little puppets in order to entertain/freak out your other customers (in fact, the latter is one of my favorite pastimes). So in an effort to dissuade you from buying these little gadgets in the future, we've provided some of them here, so you'll know 'em when you see 'em.

Now, for the record, I understand that these products do serve some purpose, however insignificant. And if you happen to own one of these products, more power to you! I am simply suggesting that there are, perhaps, other ways to accomplish the same kitchen tasks that these products purport to execute...

Now, without further ado...

Have you ever seen someone using a fork, knife or another eating utensil in a way that seems incredibly awkward? Because the ability to use a knife and fork is a mark of a well-socialized individual and is a skill that is typically picked up from observing others, it is hard not to wonder they picked up such unusual habits. In Japan, some schools are wondering the same thing and want to make sure that such sloppy, untraditional habits of chopstick use are stopped before they spread any further. The Hisatagakuen Sasebo Girls' High School will be testing students on their skill with chopsticks as part of their entrance examinations. The 10-minute test will require that students "transfer beads, marbles, dice and beans from one plate to another."

Administrators say that the purpose of this test is to show respect for "the Japanese spirit" but, in light of the decline of chopstick use among Japanese children, it also seems like a rather unusual way to make sure everyone has good table manners.

As if there aren't enough strange food gadgets in the world already, we manage to keep finding new and unusual ones. These Finger Forks look like miniature versions of the Wolverine's claws, but are small enugh to slip, ring-like, onto each finger. They are made of stainless steel and, like other types of forks, are sharp enough to pierce most foods. They are suggested for use at cocktail parties, but you run the risk of having people think that you are repeatedly dipping your fingers into the various dips and sauces. They would be better suited to a restaurant where the food is typically eaten with the fingers - many Moroccan restaurants, for example - so someone unfamiliar with the practice can stay within their comfort zone and still use a utensil. The forks might also work out well for people who can't manage chopsticks and are too embarassed to ask for a fork.

[via boingboing]

When the spork was first invented, there is little doubt that its creators thought that they had created the ultimate fusion of eating utensils. The spork soon spread to school cafeterias and even into those little plastic baggies they pass out with the meal on airplanes. But the spork wasn't as useful as it could be because you couldn't cut anything with it. To compensate, airplanes included knives with their sporks and schools prepare lunches with no discernable texture. The spork, however, has finally evolved to take cutting abilities into account. The Spork/Knife, coined as the sporknif by Bea of La Tartine Gourmande, has a fork/knife on one end and a paddle-like spoon on the other. It is made from durable, heat-resistant PC material, comes in a variety of colors and only costs a few dollars.

You may never need another utensil again.

Think you're pretty handy around the kitchen? Having nothing better to do on a Friday afternoon? Break up the monotony of the work day by checking out the Name That Utensil Quiz at the TLC website. There are photos of common and not-so-common implements to identify, along with a couple of questions about their uses. Your answers on the 11 questions will get you a rating from Tournant to Executive Chef so you can see how you fit into the kitchen. Take care to read all the questions carefully, though - while some are easy, others are a bit on the tricky side.

I'll admit that my score was 10/11. Take the quiz here and leave your score in the comments, below!