The First Cut

I know, I know . . . Rod Stewart's song immediately comes to mind, but this has nothing to do with, well, you know.

It's about knives! I've become hooked on "Good Eats," hosted by Alton Brown on the Food Network. If you're dying to get some good culinary knowledge in a condensed, entertaining (albeit sometimes corny) manner, "Good Eats" is a sure bet.

The other night, Alton was elucidating on the finer points (!) of knife sharpening. Come to find out that the long sharpening weapon that came with our knives really doesn't do a lot of sharpening. Rather it brings the blade back into alignment. Every time your knife hits the cutting service it gets a little skewed. He recommended taking your knives to a professional sharpener. His knife guy happens to have a van outfitted with all the tools of the trade, which allows him to make house calls. How nice. I put Ron to the task of finding a knife sharpener and we found one. The Ambrosi Brothers (located around 30th & Main). For three bucks a blade we have pretty much a brand new set of knives. How very nice.

Ron mentioned my knife sharpening experience to a co-worker, who said that his wife would cut off an extremity (or two) if she had sharp knives. Well, what do you know? If you're going to slice yourself, it's much better to do it with a really sharp knife; dull ones leave jagged edges, slowing down the healing process (or making reattachment much harder!).

Now I can slice and dice til the cows come home. But, if they're smart (or happy) cows, they might want to step away from the blade.