Kitchen Ruler

Let me tell you a little story my Dad told me over and over again when I was growing up…

A man watched his wife of 10 years always cut the ends of the ham off before she put it in the pad to roast it. Everytime, and for 10 years he never asked why until one day, curiosity got the better of him.

“Wife,” says he. “Why do you always cut the ends of your ham off before roasting it?” Her reply was simple.

“Because my mother always did.” Now they were both curious. Why did her mother always cut the ends off of the ham before roasting? Did it enhance its flavor? Did it make for a better crust? Was it religious? So together they decided to call mom to figure out the answer. Her mother picked up on the second ring and after hello’s the question was put to her.

“Mom, why do you always cut the ends of your ham off before you roast it?”

“Well, because my mother always did.” The mystery still wasn’t solved, but this family had good genes and Grandma was still alive and well and still cooking hams. Now with mother on the other line, the husband and the wife on speaker, they dialed Grandma. After the fourth ring, she answered. Afterall she was alive, but no spring chicken any more. The wife asked the question that they most wanted to know the answer.

“Grandma, why do you always cut the ends off of your ham before you roast it? Mom does it, and so do I, but neither of us know why we do.”

“Oh, well I do it because it my pan was too small.”

There are a few morals here.

1 – Don’t just do things because that is the way it’s always been done. It may have had a practical reason, but sometimes reasons change

2 – Ask questions in the kitchen. Knowing why you do things or the way things are done, will help you to be a better cook overall.

3 – Grandma needs a new pan! Put that on her Christmas list!

What does this story have to do with a Kitchen Rule? Well, nothing, but I bet if Grandma wanted her ham to look good, she could have used a great kitchen ruler!

Now I’ve never been charged with being a perfectionist, but I do love my kitchen ruler! It’s great to use when cutting puff pastry for, say Pigs in a Blanket, dividing up brownies or bars so no kid has a melt down that he got a bigger one or trying to figure out if the ham will even fit in the pan!

I use the Westcott metal ruler. It’s $4 to $10 depending on which one you get and you can put it right in the dishwasher. I highly reccomend. And now the kids can fight about how his brownie got way more chocolate chips instead of the size.