credit Margaret Nelson.

Official Glossary

BAND-AID: a useful item, often goes hand-in-hand with shredding

BEAT: a repeated overhand motion used to combine ingredients. May be done with a spoon or an electric mixer. A screwdriver, no matter how clean, should not be used to combine recipe ingredients

BLACK: to fry something until it turns black. At this point, smoke detector usually goes off

BOIL: to heat liquid until bubbles rise and break on surface. Looks similar to something you may see in your bath-tub

BROWN: to fry something until it turns brown

CAN OPENER: the metal part with the mickey mouse ears on top of what looks like a tiny circular saw, on the other end of the more familiar bottle opener

CHOP: to cut food into pieces. A knife is most often used, rather than a karate movement

DICE: cut into cubes smaller than ½ inch. Use of measuring tape is acceptable for beginners

DRAIN: to let liquid run through the holes in a strainer. If no strainer available, resist urge to use a fishing net

FIRE EXTINGUISHER: extremely important, should be positioned no further than 3 feet from the "chef" at all times

GRATE: to cut into small pieces using a standard kitchen utensil called a ‘grater'. Success is greater if your grater is greater

LOAF PAN: pan shaped like a loaf

LONG-HANDLED FORK: good to use when something's burning and you don't want to get too close

MARZIPAN: not a type of pan at all, but a type of candy

POT HOLDER: something your mother-in-law knits or crochets in a squareshape. There's a kitchen drawer full of them. Used to pick up hot pans and pots. Finally, you know.

RECTANGULAR PAN: pan shaped like a rectangle

SAUCEPAN: a high sided pan for the top of the stove. Comes in different sizes. Small saucepan is not as big as medium saucepan, and more often than not, its smaller than a large saucepan

SHRED: to slice into sliver-like pieces with a knife, or a shredding instrument

SPATULA: a utensil with a wide flat end used for lifting and flipping over foods in a frying pan. Men are usually quick to find this in a typical kitchen, as it resembles a smaller version of a barbeque tool

SQUARE PAN: pan shaped like a square

STRAIN: to stretch neck around corner of kitchen to see what wife is doing while you're making dinner