I’ve been cooking a long time, and yet, just last week I learned to Fork the Noodles. “D’oh!” I said, slapping my head just as Homer Simpson does.

Those bundles of noodles, a fork, those noodles in boiling water.

For lunch — usually — I’ll cook up a bundle of noodles to go with a can of soup or a leftover this or that. The Chinese kind that cook in three minutes.

Throw a bundle in a pot of boiling water, break up the bundle so the noodles are loose in the water before you start your timer, so you don’t get clumps. Trouble is, you’re working with boiling water and those bundles of noodles don’t want to break up… they’ll slosh around under your wooden spoon, boiling water sloshes out of the pot and puts out your fire. Bad.

Those noodles and a cheap cooking fork.

One day, I grabbed a cheap cooking fork and speared the noodles with that… holds them in place while I break that bundle with my wooden spoon. “D’oh!” That’s great! What took me so long?

These particular noodles will go with a sliced leftover meatball and a can of Amy’s Tomato Bisque soup. Yum.