I'll admit it: I have a weakness for salad tongs. First of all, if you're on a trip somewhere at a great home store (say, Bloomingdale's Home in Chicago) and you see a great set of salad tongs, it's easy to slip them into the suitcase. Secondly, if you have a lot of dishes and might catch some flack for purchasing more when you get home, it's also easy to sneak said tongs into the house and later convince your spouse they have been there forever and that if they were more observant, they probably would have noticed. Plus, salad tongs are an easy way to mix up the dinner service and add a little bit of flair to a starter course of the meal, whether for guests or just for you.
Salad tip: bottle dressings are a waste of money. It's almost as easy to mix up a batch of vinaigrette yourself, right in the salad bowl. After it's mixed, simply top with your greens and put in to the fridge to chill, waiting until just before you're ready to serve to toss.
Here's my collection of salad tongs: some old, some new, none you can borrow, one set that's blue.
This set is in its original box and also has matching salt and pepper shakers.
This is probably my favorite set: red plastic that references gingko leaves. It looks great with the pink and green salad bowl, but equally at home with the wood bowl or just plain old Pyrex.
This is a vintage set I got at the auction from the Wonder Woman estate. It's part of the original service designed for the invisible jet. Sadly, the invisible salad bowl went for far above the reserve and I wasn't able to get it.
This set is blue on blue, but it's difficult to tell in the photo. The opposite side of each is dark blue and light blue, for an interesting look. Crate and Barrel currently has them in green.
This lovely set was a gift and is so very Pucci, 1960s.
Mitchell gave me this set, also in the original box, as an early Christmas present. Unique!