{venturing outside the little kitchen} Sharpening my Knife Skills

I am a sucker for food... I think about it, dream about it, and love to eat it.  That is why I cook.  I can usually be very enticed by something if it involves food or learning how to make new food.  Rarely do I stop and think, I should really work on my cooking skills.  I have especially never chosen to learn a skill over learning a recipe, but after much thoughtful prayer, counseling and consideration, I signed up for Knife Skills 101 at Sur La Table.  If you will remember, Mr. Hungry gave me two cooking class gift certificates for Christmas and I have pondered for almost a year now, which classes to take.  With one already under my belt, I was really trying to pick wisely for this next one.
I had learned how to work with masa dough, which was not only fun, but we got to eat everything we made at the end.  I was having a hard time giving up another experience like that to go to knife skills where you can eat the carrot that you just julienned if you so wish, but no big meal at the end.  However, I heard the class was very informative and so many had told me you can really cook so much better if you get good with your knife.  So I did it!  And what is my conclusion?  You should too!  It was great and I use the things I learned in the class daily.  You see, I loved the other class, but I must admit, I still haven't gotten around to making my own tortillas, but with this class, I started using the skills immediately.  From choosing which knife to use to learning new ways to cut food uniformly, I got alot out of it.  My favorite was learning a new way to cut a grapefruit, which if you are really nice to me, I might share one day.  But for now, I wanted to suggest this as a great Christmas present for all of the cooks in your life.  Or heck, Merry Christmas to YOU... go treat yourself.

A very, very small sampling of what I learned...

All that hard work... just thrown in the trash!