We cook almost every day in this household. Hard to justify all the time we spend producing food if we don’t eat it! That, and we cook better food than you can find in most restaurants. This means I get to be very demanding when it comes to food tools.

My newest acquisition is this paring knife. We have purchased and been gifted a number of knives over the years, including Wüsthof stainless steel, which has a great reputation. I have never been thrilled with any of the stainless versions. They do not keep edges well and are difficult to sharpen. Then I watched the movie Julie and Julia, in which Julia Child explained that her friendship with Avis Desoto began with a letter to Avis’ husband regarding an article he wrote about the joys of carbon steel knives. If Julia waxes poetic over knives, a cook needs to pay attention.

The only carbon steel knife we had in our arsenal is this unmarked 14” blade. It could serve as a short sword! But it does keep an edge well and can be honed on a steel quickly. We don’t use it often due to its unwieldy length, but it works beautifully on our huge cabbages and other large garden produce. Sometimes you need a giant knife. A giant sharp knife minimizes injuries.

What convinced me to squander my saved up pennies (dimes, nickles, and large bills) was this birthday gift from Michael. It is a Henkel carbon steel chef’s knife. I use it daily. It remains sharp. When it dulls, I can sharpen it myself on a steel. The handle fills my hand and allows a firm grip. Carbon steel knives require care to prevent rusting and pitting. I wash and dry my carbon steel immediately after every use.

I’m showing the knife with onions as having a clean cut on an onion reduces the amount of irritating chemicals an onion releases when cut or bruised. The thin edge of my new paring knife allows me to skin onions efficiently. I love it! Today we are making venison stew with corn and wild mushrooms, rosemary, wine…and a lot of onions. A good use of our garden produce on a snowy December day.

As Julia would say: Bon Appetit!