[Blindtlk] Good techniques?

[Julie J.]

I just made a PB&J half an hour ago, so this is really fresh in my mind!

I tell how much I have on the knife by weight mostly.  Then when I get it on 
the bread and start spreading, I can tell if I have too much or too little. 
At home I will return the extra back into the jar, but I'm not sure if 
that's bad etiquette at someone else's home?  I put the peanut butter or 
whatever into the middle of the piece of bread and pull it to the edges, 
turning the bread in my hand as I go.

With jelly, I've discovered that using a spoon is much easier.  It tends to 
fall off the knife and when spreading I dig into the bread too much.  So I 
get the jelly from the jar with a spoon, plop in the middle of the bread, 
then flip the spoon over and use the back side to spread the jelly.  It 
doesn't mess up the bread and I almost always get the amount I want on the 
first go.

It helps if your topping is creamy.  trying to spread cold butter on bread 
or toast is just a lost cause, sighted or blind.

If I have two things I want to spread, like the peanut butter and jelly, I 
put one on each slice of bread, then put them together to make the sandwich, 
same with mustard and mayo.

HTH and I'm glad you asked!  Happy sandwich making!

Julie
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-----Original Message----- 
From: Tom Cramer via blindtlk
Sent: Monday, December 07, 2015 10:37 AM
To: Advice and support for blind cooks ; NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List
Cc: Tom Cramer
Subject: [Blindtlk] Good techniques?

Hello,

I think this question will be way too basic for everyone but I hope to
get some good techniques other than just being told to not be afraid
to ask sighted company to help me.  I think this is an important
skill, especially now that I'm trying to be more independent and do
more for myself.

I found I am not good at something very basic, like spreading.  I'm
talking about things like putting any kind of spread on bread or
multiple spreads on sandwiches.  I never really thought of it because
I'm generally always with family or friends and they always did it.
But when I was by myself, or when everyone just kind of did their own
thing and simply told me that the sandwich fixings were on the
counter, I realized how deficient I was in this skill.
I asked other blind people and they just said that they weren't afraid
to use their fingers to spread or that I could simply ask someone to
do it.

So, specific questions.
First, I use a knife but don't seem to get much stuff on it.  Any good
techniques to tell how much is on the knife or how much more to get?
Second, what about the actual spreading technique?  I find mine to be
uneven and yet I thought I covered the bread.
Finally, what do you do if you're doing a sandwich and want more than
just one thing like mayo and mustard and squeeze bottles aren't
available?

I know my family is happy to help me, and my friends haven't said
anything yet, but do I really want my friends doing something like
buttering bread or making my sandwiches for me?

Thanks for entertaining these very basic questions.
Tom

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