Spring Sale!

Now through May 31st, we've got some special items on sale for our Mother's Day and Graduation Sale. Or you could be an early bird, come in for those pre-Father's Day low prices.

Select Wüstof knives will be 15% off regular price.
Also, while supplies last you will get a gift with a $50.00 purchase of Wüsthof products. A purchase of $100.00 or more of Wüsthof products will give you 10% off any in-stock cutting board of your choice.
Specifics will be forthcoming in the next post, or sooner if you are on our mailing list.

All in-stock manicure sets in leather cases by Dovo are now 10% off. Their normal prices range from $42.50 to $309.50.

Right now all of our reading glasses (+1.5 to +3.0) are $9.99. It should be noted that these should be purchased as a primary Mother's Day gift with caution. Only do this if your spouse has a sense of humor.

Spring News

It's a busy time of year, here in the cutlery. We're sharpening knives for Derby and gearing up for a spring sale. In the meantime, here's what's new...

New Products!
Come in and see our newest knife blocks and cutting boards. They are designed and crafted in Louisville, Kentucky by Thorpe Furniture. Incidentally, they are also gorgeous.

17-slot knife blocks in Cherry, Walnut and Maple $85.00
Cutting Boards in Cherry, Walnut, Maple, & Purple Heart
9" X 11" $50.00
12" x 14" $100.00

Spring Sale!

We are having a big sale this spring, with lots of great items on sale. Need gift ideas for moms or grads? I'll be making posts about some the best deals and my favorite items.
It should also be pointed out that we now have gift cards available for any amount you would require and we do free gift wrapping year round in our signature silver paper.

It should be noted that:
*This sale applies only to available in-stock items
*This sale does not apply to special orders
*There is a limited supply of certain items
*No additional discounts apply

It happened in Chicago, part 1

Carl and Glenna spent all day running around the Lakefront building. They were there from 8:30 in the morning until 5 o'clock at night.
Most of their time was spent visiting various vendors. Carl tells me that he had identified 50 different vendors that he was interested in, but in the 8 hours they were there, he and Glenna were only able to see about 40. Most of those were brief visits, dropping off cards, picking up information; they spent more time perusing the booths of vendors we already, visiting with them and discovering new products.


The Shun booth was a big attraction, and not just because they had Alton Brown.(Of course Glenna got an autograph, are you crazy? His blend of cooking and science is irresistible.)
As we were saying before the digression, the knives themselves are lovely. Shun also had some awesome limited edition steak knives. It looks like other people thought so, too; apparently it was a bit hard to get a close look.

Sadly, Carl's camera hates the new computer, so we have a lot less pictures of the Housewares Show than we'd hoped to have. From what we have, you can get an idea of how crowded and busy the vendors room was. My feet would have fallen off from all of that walking around.

One of our favorite vendors, Dovo, was at the Show! Luckily, they had plenty of chairs, so Carl and Glenna got a bit of a rest. Dovo supplies all of our manicure sets and a large percentage of our sewing and hair scissors/shears, and individual manicure implements. Here's a picture of Anne Rothstein, Jens, and Glenna. Jens is a German representative of the company, who we get to see every so often. He travels around once a year with a huge bag of manicure sets, so that Carl can look at them before deciding what to order for the next year. Everyone in the store gets a chance to ooh and aah, it's always a lot of fun. Just hope that Jens doesn't test your German skills! (Mine are, admittedly, horrible.)

To be continued...

Placeholders are we

Hey folks,

In a few days I'll have a post up about Carl and Glenna's trip to Chicago and all the interesting things. Plus pictures!
I just have a lot going on until the 11th.
In the meantime, here's a picture of Alton Brown doing a signing session at the Shun booth.

Knifelore from a Grimore

Well folks, it looks like I'll have to call and bug Carl about getting me some pictures from his trip. In the meantime, here's something to whet your appetite. (pun always intentional).


Knife Folklore Fragment of the Week:

The accidental crossing of two case knives at the table must be avoided, as it is likely to cause a desperate fight between members of the family; if the knives are crossed inadvertently, they must be touched only by the same person who crossed them

.


Randolph, Vance. Ozark Magic and Folklore (formerly titled Ozark Superstitions). Dover Publications, Inc., New York: 1947. (p 58)

Buy the book here on Amazon.com.

Where's Carl?

This weekend is the International Home and Housewares Show 2008, up in Chicago. If you're going to be there, keep an eye out for Carl and give him a wave. Unlike Waldo, Carl will be a bit harder to spot, as he doesn't wear bright red stripes.

According to its website, the International Home & Housewares Show is the world's premier housewares marketplace. It features more than 2,000 exhibitors from 34 countries, and more than 20,000 buyers from over 100 countries around the world.
Personally, I'd like to spend some time in the international pavilions; they sound very interesting.

So there will be a lot of people there. Still, keep an eye out for Carl (and Glenna, too!) because they'll be there all weekend. With any luck, we'll get some nice pictures and fun stories to post here. :)

Have a good weekend everybody!

Every Girl's Crazy 'bout a Sharpedged Knife

I was just sitting down to write a scintillating post about how to sharpen a knife and all that goes with that, when I found this video for you.



If any of you have ever gotten the talk about how to use a steel in our store, you'll notice the similarity in hand movements. Like the man in the video, we also sharpen knives by hand, though we have a lot more equipment. (At some point, when I remember to take my camera to Louisville, you'll get a tour of the shop.)

To summarize the video, calling it a "sharpening steel" isn't quite accurate. It really hones the edge until the knife becomes too worn and needs to have a new edge ground onto it. This is best done professionally, in general, and frequency depends on how much you use your knife. If you use a steel regularly and take good care of your knife, every year or two is sufficient.


In the meantime, remember these guidelines:

1)Remember, use your steel!

2) Use a cutting board, not the counter or a plate.
A wooden cutting board is best for your knife, though any material will work if you avoid hard surfaces like glass. Bamboo cutting boards are very fashionable at the moment, as well as being a good choice ecologically. Remember to wash it after cutting meat and poultry.

2) SAY NO TO THE DISHWASHER!
Using a dishwasher can dull your knife and damage the handle.

3)Store knives somewhere secure.
There are several options available, from blocks that sit on the counter, ones the mount on the underside of your cabinets, or ones that can sit in your gadget drawer. If those occupy too much space, you can always get an edge guard, which will protect both the blade and your hand when you reach into a crowded drawer.