No, keep the cabbage whole and shred it as needed. Do you have a mandoline? it is very very easy to shred.

A whole, unwashed head of cabbage can keep for 3 weeks to 2 months in the refrigerator's crisper drawer, especially when wrapped in a plastic bag to maintain humidity. Once cut, it should be used within 2–3 days.

I didn't see a reply about your rice wine vinegar? Check the label; it may contain sugar and salt.

Yes, I use about a teaspoon of sugar. The other ingredients are: white balsamic vinegar, Diamond Crystal kosher salt, cracked black pepper, mayo, and celery seed. These are all whisked together to make a dressing that is tossed with shredded cabbage, sometimes only cabbage, occasionally with shredded carrot and/ or very thinly sliced celery. I could eat this cole slaw every day 🥰 If you’ve never tried making your recipe with white balsamic vinegar I highly recommend it.

I sometimes use rice wine vinegar in cole slaw, and I use it for other things. It's the pure vinegar kind, no seasoning or flavoring. I also have fancy white wine vinegar, as in made from fancy wine but no additives, which has a lovely flavor which plain white vinegar does not. Those would be my top choices, mostly for the color.

Mtn, I just checked my rice vinegar and no, no sugar. No sugar in my mayo, either.

We had a mandolin and gave it away, we were afraid of it! Not long after, we were making something and thought “hey, this would be easier with a mandolin, where is i…oh, right.”

Had to smile bpath, about the mandolin.

If making a large amount of cole slaw I will use the Food Processor with attachments of the slicer for the cabbage and grater for the carrots. Easy. The slicer can adjust to very fine up to thicker.

I think I use my mandoline for almost every meal. It does have a guard. You can buy the special protective gloves?

We used to have a big metal hand cranked grinder with cup shaped blades which we used for coleslaw. I am not sure what happened to it when my dad sold the house.

I really like my mandoline. My SO who slices everything by hand and can go paper thin and fast at the same time (most batters get beating by hand too--?--) Left The House when I used it the first time because [ I was] "going to cut the end of your finger off." This sort of thing has been a recurring theme in my house kind of like "you'll shoot your eye out" from A Christmas Story.

I didn't cut the end of my finger off for the first three minutes and then I took the the medial tip of my thumb. Well, not all the way off. The Emergency room would have been a hassle so I cleaned a pair of nail scissors with alcohol and just cut the rest off. I bled through every bandaid in the house and ended up adding paper towels and examination gloves over it and making the rest of the NYT vertical au gratin potatoes one-handed or 1.5-handed. It bled for approximately 24 hours, and you can feel the dent more than you can see it.

A co-worker said she needed to get a mandoline when I gave her some potatoes because of the slices and I told her she would cut the end of her finger off. She apparently did it on the first slice, but didn't lose as much as I did.

My SO generally leaves the house when I cook or bake because of my inefficiency. In other words, I can't make a batch of cookies and be cleaned up in the time it takes the oven to preheat.

I want to make pave potatoes next.

Thanks for all the details pal - now I'm having flashbacks to some of my most gruesome kitchen injuries 😄

Very glad I have a Cuisinart 🙂

And FWIW, I use cider vinegar and Dijon mustard in my slaw dressing - and half mayo/half sour cream.

My dad, who was kind of dramatic when it came to his own illnesses and injuries, frequently treated ours in the kitchen. This isn't the first tip of a finger I cut off. I cut almost 1/4" off my ring finger in the prop that holds open a piano bench lid. Or is suppose to hold it open. I only went to the ER because my dad decided I needed a tetanus shot. but other than that since it was partway attached it just kind of got mushed back into shape and held together with bandages, and enough was attached that it took. So it's a little off kilter and a little numb but I still have it. If you went to the ER for something like this now, they would have three people look at it including a hand surgeon. Luckily these have all been right handed injuries and I am left handed.

When I do go to the emergency room it seems like nothing much happens. When I fell of a wheeled chair I was standing on at work. (I know, stupid but I was tired of my one assistant rolling her eyes when she had to reach something high for me), I pretended I was fine because no one actually saw it--although the chair hit the wall and knocked the clock off. But within a few days I could barely walk and had a lot of muscle /ligament pain, and when I went to the ER and he pressed on certain spots I said "Ow" and yes it hurts about a 7, I guess I wasn't screaming enough, like the person in the other cubicle so I got a "Meh," and sent home with an Rx for Flexeril. I still couldn't walk. Same with the concussion. I didn't get any sort of reaction at all, until I ended up with moderate post-concussion syndrome.

I bought a mandolin, top rated with shields and a pusher. Used a couple of times and got rid of it. I can make cuts with my knives that are thin enough and perfect enough for me.

I hated it.

I wonder if blood adds that certain little something to the cole slaw?

LOL, I never cut myself with it, but I could not see that much improvement over my knives and just was not comfortable. Plus it was harder to clean than a knife plus cutting board and took up more room to store.

I have an old box style mandoline. It was mentioned on this thread that some come with guards, so I just ordered one (not a box style) that has a guard and comes with safety gloves.

I used to use a food processor, but I got rid of it because it was just too big a deal to drag it out, set it up, and then wash all the various parts.

Lucille, ditch the mandoline and use a knife and cutting board. They work better, take less room to store, and are safer.

ETA; I have not had a food processer in 40 years. Too much to store or wash,

Sherry, just a knife to clean up does sound more efficient. But due to my poor and worsening vision I am using my knives less and less. The mandoline I chose is more horizontal than my old box mandoline, and with the combination of the guard and safety gloves I think it might be better for my situation.

Mine was horizontal. Have you checked on different glasses? Maybe you need more close up and less distsnce. I had my last bifocals fixed more for reading and computer and less for driving.

@Sherry8aNorthAL...I'm with you there, Sherry. I have a Ninja FP, sits in its box in the garage. I have a mandoline, sits in the back of a drawer. They are just too much trouble. A sharp knife and a good cutting board are so much easier, all things considered. And I always, always use wearing my reader glasses.

different glasses

reader glasses

I wish it were that easy, but I have a number of serious issues including diplopia that are difficult to fix completely.

driving

I no longer drive out of consideration for others on the road after a near miss.

I admit, I have 1 knife that does 75% of my cutting tasks, but I find my FP and mandolines very useful. It would take all day to slice the Persian cucumbers for cucumber salad with a knife. They have to be shirt cardboard thin. I have a Kyocera paddle mandolin that has notches to fit over the bowl, 4 thickness settings, including the right one for cucumber salad, and goes in the dishwasher. For cole slaw, I imitate my mother, and put everything through the grating blade of my Breville Sous Chef, like she did on her Nu-Tone, and I get the "right" results. It's worth the wash water. For the multitudes (the three dozen close family members), if I'm doing a lunch buffet or other slicing heavy task, I get out the DeBuyer V-blade, infinitely adjustable, wear the cutproof glove even though it has a big, safe pusher, mandoline. At that point, I don't have time to cut quantities of beautiful slabs of zucchini, carrots, etc., with my knife, and the mandoline does it so pretty! The FP has an adjustable slicer which is fine for casseroles, but would make a mess for a sandwich fixings platter. It's double worth the water to clean the mandoline, and the interchangeable blades pop out, which makes cleaning easier. I mentioned the brands because past a knife, all are dependent on the design for how safe and how easily cleaned, but I've never (without attracting the evil eye) cut my fingers in my own kitchen. There isn't any one right answer. What works for your particular circumctances, the way you want to do things, is right, whether it's the cutting or the sugar content, or anything else.

@lucillle... I'm so sorry to read about your vision difficulties. I apologize if I sounded insensitive. My DH has also decided to end his driving due to vision issues. Good vision is so easy to take for granted. I'm guilty of that. You be careful in the kitchen!!

“What works for your particular circumctances, the way you want to do things, is right, whether it's the cutting or the sugar content, or anything else.”

Wise words…so true!

We never had sugar in cole slaw in our house when I was growing up.

Because of intense dislike of mayonnaise among some family members, salad oil and vinegar was used. I don’t recall anything other than red wine vinegar in my mother’s kitchen, so that’s what it must have been. (I use rice wine vinegar with olive oil.)

Other than my mother, no one much cared for anything pickled, not even peperoncini.

We can be funny about foods, especially as kids. I never liked mayo on a sandwich, but liked tuna salad, chicken salad, etc. I never liked pickles (still don’t) but I liked sweet relish in my tuna and chicken salads. At least now I can tolerate the pickle on a fast-food burger. And I always liked the Danish cucumber salad, with lots of vinegar and sugar. but not pickles! Maybe because Grandmother’s salad was so fresh.

We made the RG Christmas Lima and cabbage soup today, I'm not sure I like that it relies heavily on additions and garnish, and it needs to meld, though I had to split it up into three containers, so I hope all three meld on their own. It calls for thinly sliced garlic and shallots, and I was too tired to fuss with them, so the garlic went on an old fashined garlic guillotine, which name, I think is about alliteration, since it's really a bitty mandoline. I did the shallots on the paddle mandoline set one notch thicker than the lowest which I use for cucumber salad, and my trusty knife for the cabbage.

My Vietnamese mandoline looks like this:

It's like a giant vegetable peeler. You can either hold the vegetable still and slice the end with the mandoline, or the other way around.

I made the Sammin’s dressing posted above by @lat62 tonight, put it over finely sliced cabbage, grated carrot, added dried cranberies and toasted pistachios- not sure if it qualifies as cole slaw in the traditional sense, but it was delicious.

No. I make a sauce with greek yogurt, mayo, mustard and seasoning.

Well,I do not have a cole slaw recipe, because I do not like cole slaw. But if I made it, I am certain that no sugar would be in it. I HATE savory things that have sugar or honey in them. I think it is so strange, though I do not disparage the tastes of others. I just do not understand. l remember the first time I had potato salad that was not made by my mother. I spit it out IMMEDIATLY, embarrassing myself. I was used to my mothers potato salad, which was potatoes, mayo, celery, green onions, hard boiled eggs and fresh dill. NOTHING SWEET. I was just not expecting a mouth full of sugar when I ate the "outside" potato salad. That is one of the mysteries of the south I think. Why does everything have sugar? Potato salad, chicken salad, BBQ, coleslaw. Why is the tuna salad sweet? Devilled eggs? Really? Sweet deviled eggs?

So no. Savory is savory only. Sugar is for desserts.

“…though I do not disparage the tastes of others.”

Agree! For me, sugar can provide balance and enhance flavor in certain savory dishes, sauces, marinades, condiments, etc. However, I understand tastebuds and personal preferences. I can’t handle even a hint of cinnamon in anything savory, such as Middle Eastern dishes. Just not happening for me.😖

Amylou, i have lived in the south all my life and have never had or even heard of sugar in potato salad?! No sugar in deviled eggs or chicken/tuna salads. i do use sweet pickle relish in tuna salad. That said I do use just a bit of sugar in my slaw dressing. Someone mentioned mustard in slaw dressing and I have never heard of that!

Olychick, that salad sounds great! I’m going to try it!

@amylou321 I suspect it is the use of Miracle Whip in many of those dishes which to me makes everything too sweet. I agree....yuck. And also the prevalence of sweet pickle relish in dishes that I am used to having only dill pickles added.

Tina I have also lived in the south my whole life. Though I was raised on a Midwestern palete, as my parents were from Wisconsin. I do not really mean that they dump white sugar in everything, but it all seems to have something sweet in it, and therefore sugar. Sweet pickles and sweet pickle relish are a nemesis to me, and I agree with Olychick that I think that sweet pickle relish is probably a main culprit in such dishes. Again, not disparaging anyones tastes, its just repulsive to me and my palate.

Yes amylou, we are all different! 😊

Mustard is an emulsifier. So being, you find it in surprising places. :)

I can tolerate a little sweetness in a lot of the foods being discussed, but I can't handle either Miracle Whip or sweet pickles / sweet pickle relish. I'll take the white sugar please to avoid those. But those products just weren't used by anyone who fed me as a kid. It might be different if I'd been exposed in formative years. Whereas the very thought of schmaltz herring brings the smell of it back and makes me smile, reminding me of my father. :D And I imagine many of you wouldn't want to be in the same room. :) Hm...The exception to my aversion to sweet pickles are Bubbe's--they only come as thick slices, but they don't taste like regular sweet or bread and butter pickles. They taste like sugar. I call them Sugar Pickles. They're sweeter than cookies. And, weirdly, taste really good with chestnuts. ;)

I hate dill. The spice its self and any form of dill pickles. Do not put dill pickles or any vinegar in my potato salad, slaw, or deviled eggs! No pickles on my hamburgers.

^That’s so interesting and another good example of how tastes can differ so much. I adore dill and use it often. I also have the cilantro gene and can’t imagine certain things without it...starting with salsa.👍🏻

Oh, if only you were a few miles closer! I can tolerate some cilantro flakes in salsa (my theory is that I have one allele), but I'd happily magic-transport to you the ucky-yucky cilantro sprigs some kind finisher of fine cheffery has added to my food thinking it's a treat and which I have to fish out, piece by piece, to make the rest edible.

😁

But I do love dill the way some love cilantro. Like, I make split pea soup with lots of dill. And I love just smelling it. I should make pea soup...

@pillog - jumping up and down waving my arms - I'll take some herring! Love it in any form - schmaltz, sour cream, tomato sauce....

There are different food cultures around the country, some regionally based, some religiously based although maybe they are being somewhat diluted or expanded as people move. We all have our preferences. As a midwesterner who moved to NC 11 years ago, sugar shows up in lots of places that I find odd but that's just the way things are here. Like fruit dip. Why? Isn't fruit sweet enough on its own? I've learned to avoid certain foods or when appropriate get a sample before committing. With the exception of the very occasional Gherkin, I'll take my pickles dill please - Clausen is the only acceptable dill here to me since the prospect of finding an actual deli with a pickle barrel is unlikely to say the least!

Ahhh, yes…I’d happily take the cilantro! And huge YES to just smelling fresh dill. Truly one of my favorite herbs. Yum with the pea soup. I also like it in a potato cheese soup I make from the Silver Palate.

DLM has it really been 11 years? How time flies! And now I have herring calling my name. It’s a Polish and Danish Christmas tradition, and for some reason we forgot it this year!

I never understood why there is sugar in some applesauce, and even in some peanut butters! Not in my house, but it’s in the store. I have, however, added a pinch — just a pinch — to spaghetti sauce, and it was delicious. Dh will never add sugar to anything, he even reduces it when baking, but sometimes just a teense adjusts the flavor without sweetening, in the same way salt can bring out flavor without adding saltiness. But I’ve never added either to my cole slaw. (I suppose there is salt in the mayo?)

bpath, there’s both salt and sugar in the Best Foods mayo I use. You’re so right regarding salt and sugar enhancing/balancing flavor without being obvious.

People that use dill snd vinegar in stuff unless you also use lots of sugar, such as bread and butter pickles, are refered to as Damyankees, lol.

yes bpath, 11 years. And since the bulk of those years contained, um, political volitility and multiple health and end of life issues for family back home, it's been a loooong 11 years in many ways.

My mother taught me that when using canned tomato products, add a bit of sugar, like a tsp or less depending on the amount of tomatoes, to cut/mask the tinny taste. Whether that's true or not or whether the canning process/materials have made that unnecessary today, I don't know. But I still do it.

My mom liked some sweet combos that I just never could - like Swiss cheese and grape jelly on toasted rye 😝

Another friend from PA made deviled eggs with sweet pickle relish - another big NOPE for me.

As a kid I LOVED sweet gherkins, but that didn't last.

I also love fresh dill, and not so much cilantro - but I do like coriander, which is cilantro seeds. Pickled herring is something I think I won't ever like.

Ugh, Carol, gotta agree about the Swiss, grape jelly and rye. My mom used to love peanut butter and mayo sandwiches.😝

DH loves pickled herring. Another NO for me. However, we both like some sweet pickle relish in/on deviled eggs. I add it to potato salad, too. Those two things are pretty much all we ise it for.

Sherry, you've got to expand your mind! Damwesternfruitcake here, not damyankee! :)

BPath, I don't know about Christmas traditions, but interesting about the Polish herring. My father's parents came from Poland, when it wasn't Germany. I don't know if that's the origin of my father's taste for pickled herring. He was from Michigan. :)

Former Damyankee wonderful memories here, of Zabar's herring (along with loxnbagels, chopped liver, etc.:)

FWIW, my grandparents/great-grandparents were Lithuanians originally from PA coal mining country, and moved to SW WI - they ate lots of herring - and mushrooms as well. The area had lots of Polish, German, Swedish/Norse and Italian immigrants too. Herring is still a staple in those countries, I believe.

My mom shared her recollections of going with her father to the docks when she was little to buy herring for their Christmas meals.

Got my new horizontal mandoline and it is bitchin'. Made unstuffed cabbage and the mandoline made the cabbage slicing easy. I'm glad someone brought up mandolines as a side conversation, I had no idea that some types could be so much better than my old box mandoline.