Very interesting thread . I suppose I use a fork for everything other than things like soup or pudding or ice cream. I will even use a fork for mashed potatoes (though I have not had mashed potatoes in a very long time now), potatoes are thick enough that they don't slide through the prongs. I only use a knife if something needs cutting like meat. I've never used a salad fork for salads and a tea spoon only for stirring tea and all those "proper" utensil usages. I get by with as few utensils as is necessary, partly because when I was growing up we had no dishwasher, so whatever dishes we used I had to hand wash after dinner, and the fewer the better!