The last time we were at the mall, we checked out some kitchen knives at the Henckels

My wife and I collect in a low-impact kind of way antique or vintage kitchen gadgets, particularly if they have wooden or bakelite green handles (for my wife) or if they are interesting antique cutting tools (me, but both categories have lots of cross-over).

Last time out, while in Nacogdoches, Texas, just catercorner from the opera house, my wife turned up an unusual looking gadget that fit the bill.

We brought it home and I gave it a careful look.  The dark part is very obviously a sharpening stone, of the fineness that folks might use to produce a razor edge.  The handle describes it as a Norton crystolon sharpener.  I’ve been using it a couple of days now, trying to make it stand in place of the steel I try to use every time I pull out my knives.

I have a big collection of kitchen knives, all high-carbon steel and none of them stainless.  They produce an incredible edge, but have to be carefully maintained.  I try to have them professionally sharpened at least once a year, and try at least every other month to work through a trio of Arkansas whetstones.  But I don’t think this gets the results I could or should get.

This new tool seems the answer.  It’s now in my knife drawer and will get regular use, not just as a nice antique. Hitting the knives with it on a regular basis may be the answer.  Highly recommended.  I poked around for another one online to give as a Christmas gift for an aspiring chef….

I am looking for a friend Thomas Ellison iq hepatitis need to find the last time Parkhill MB, in 2002?

I’ll be the first to say it: you really don’t need all the knives in a set. Good cutlery is a lot like good cookware – buy only what you need, when you need it, but avoid the sets as they include things that you’ll never use.

I recommend getting yourself a good quality chef’s knife, probably 8 inches long. (I think the 6″ are too short; the 10″ too long.) Go to a dedicated cutlery or cooking store and try it out – you want to get something that fits your hand and feels good. The fit and feel is more important than the brand, really, and don’t be afraid to mix and match. The more expensive brands will cost you $80 – $100 for a good chef’s knife, tho’ I’ve heard of cheaper ones that have gotten a number of recommendations from serious cooks, like Cooks Illustrated and such – maybe someone will pop in with a link. Myself, I prefer Wustof. I have some of their classic line. I use my chef’s knife for easily 90% of all my prep in the kitchen – it’s really worth the money to get a quality one.

A knife that’s often recommended as the next purchase is a paring knife, but I kind of disagree. I have one, but I rarely use it. (Probably because I don’t peel much of anything – the potatoes are unpeeled, the cukes unpeeled, and so on. Can’t remember the last time I peeled anything. And then when I do, I usually use a veggie peeler – never got the hang of peeling with a knife, really.)

After that, it varies. I’d get a nice breadknife and maybe a cleaver (ooh – or maybe a tomato knife. That’s probably the knife that does the other 10% of the cutting in my kitchen), but others might recommend a boning knife or steak knives or what have you. That said, if you can find a set or block that includes only 3 knives (like the chef’s, paring, and bread or some such), it might be worth it. Just don’t get a set that includes 10+ knives, as there’ll be a bunch in there that you probably won’t use. Start small.

One thing that is worth the purchase: kitchen shears. I bought the Wustof shears and use them constantly. And they weren’t expensive; maybe $10? I know they’re not of the same quality as my knives, but they’re shears – they’re meant to get beat up and be replaceable.

I’ve heard that knives should be resharpened every year. You can buy sharpeners for your knives that take any guesswork out of it and help maintain the edge, but it’s probably worth getting them professionally sharpened every 2-3 years or so. (That said, I haven’t gotten mine resharpened, and it’s going on probably 5 years now. I need to do that, obviously.) Using the steel will help maintain the edge as well, but I have to admit that I’m not so great at that either.

Other than a tomato or bread knife, stay away from serrated edges. Serrated knives are difficult, if not impossible, for home chefs to resharpen – you end up just grinding down the serrations. They’re great for tomatos and bread, but regular old knives will work for everything else. And your tomato and bread knife are probably best served by being professionally resharpened.

So yesterday Carolyn and I went to the old as dirt theater here in CB to see Nightmare On Elm Street. As you may remember I was pretty pessimistic about it too. I was right about that by the way.

First I feel the need to explain our little run down theater. It was quite the hoppin’ place back in the 1970’s and unfortunately never updated. The screen is like watching a 13″ television from across the room and the seats…well those I think are rather new because they bought them from another theater that probably bought theirs from another theater who bought theirs from….anyway, the seats are not that bad and now they even have cup holders. Yes our little theater is moving on up. Before 6pm tickets cost only $2…after 6 they are $3. Not bad. The popcorn though is best left alone. Last time I ate it I had a hard time choking down the stale kernels. Oh and after a sat down I stepped onto something of substance….under my shoe it felt about the size of a candy bar. At least I hope it was a candy bar. It didn’t smell like dookie