



Last week I brought up the great butter knife debate: Do I really need them? I asked the group and here’s what I learned about butter knives, how others use them, and how I use them:
Most people stated that they could not spread butter or frankly spread anything with a steak knife. It was at that moment I realized I don’t have as many spreading needs as others do. Want to hear our families dirty secret? We don’t own a toaster- If we want something toasty, we either put it on broil in the oven, or we fry it in a pan, and toss in the butter in the pan so it melts into whatever we are toasting. But we just don’t toast things on a regular basis. And if for whatever reason we are having a baguette with dinner, we use the little butter spreader that came with our set.
We don’t make that many sandwiches in our house. I don’t often spread condiments on bread- I think I make a sandwich once a month- more likely every other month. Occasionally my husband will make tuna (you might remember the tuna v tuna salad debate in our household) but he uses a spoon to add the mayo and a spoon to spread it on the bread.
If I am having people over for dinner, I don’t serve bread. I figure there is always enough of the other stuff so bread is just not needed-
I don’t have children coming over to dinner- my ten year old niece is as close as it comes, but as she lives across the country, children using these things are not a concern.
I also own service for ten of “good” silverware- I have utensils for pretty much every eating need if need be- In fact- it would probably be in my best interest to use my “good” stuff every day.
I don’t have a tremendous amount of storage space- I have two drawers and they hold not only eating utensils, but all things that I need to cook and bake. I tried putting the steak knives with my cooking knives in the knife block, but then it becomes too hard to get the proper knives I need when doing meal prep- which leads me to get very frustrated. I want to store the steak knives in the drawer, but steak + butter is just too much.
Conclusion
Here’s what I have decided to do:
I am going to put five butter knives in a box where I keep my dishes, and keep one butter knife with my prep knives. If I need the extra butter knives within the next three months I’ll keep them. If I have no need for them, I’m donating them.