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Mom's Red Kitchen reviews red kitchen accessories and cookbooks, and offers family style recipes your family will love. Articles concerning food preparation and food safety will be posted to the home page regularly, and added to the archives page when new articles are uploaded. If you have suggestions or questions concerning family meal recipes, please email us at Mom's Red Kitchen.

How to Sharpen Kitchen Knives

Guest Article by Tom V Powell

Owning a great set of kitchen knives is very important when it comes to preparing a meal properly. Some would even say thatyour knives are direct reflection of your skill as a cook. The better condition your knives are in, the more capable of a cook you are. This is very understandable, as the condition of your knives can mean the difference between a great meal and a horrible one.

One of the first things you should know is that the price of the knife is no indication of quality. Whether you have top line stainless steel knives, or discount ones from your local department store, what matters more is the condition you keep them in. Keeping your kitchen knives sharp might seem difficult, but by following these simple steps you can maintain your knives for a very long time.

First off, when doing any work with your knives, make sure to cut on a relatively soft surface. Surfaces such as wood and plastic are ideal. Never use your kitchen knives on hard surfaces such as metal or ceramic. The repetitive cutting motion on a hard surface will cause your kitchen knives to become dull and that's something that none of us want. While it may take longer for these hard surfaces to dull a stainless steel or ceramic knife, it will happen regardless. So try to avoid them if possible.

Another tip that'll let you preserve the quality of your kitchen knives, is to never use your kitchen knives outside of the kitchen. While it's super tempting to use your kitchen knives as a screwdriver when you need one, this is not what they were designed to do. By using it in this fashion you're not only damaging your knives, you're insuring that your knives will be dulled beyond repair. Only use your knives to do tasks that it was designed to do, this will preserve your knives and ensure that you'll have them when you need them.

The next tip in insuring the longevity of your kitchen knives is to avoid gritty materials when using them. Gritty materials wear down to the edge of your knives and cause nicks and blemishes on its blade. Keep your guard up when using your knives during outdoor activities. If it's exposed to any moisture, make sure to immediately dry it off.

When you're washing your kitchen knives, make sure to use just a mild dishwashing soap and make sure to hand dry them. By allowing the blade to drip dry, you can degrade the condition of your kitchen knife's handle. When you allow your knife to drip dry, you can also cause your knife's blade to become stained.

Another tip that'll help you preserve the quality of your knives, is to be very careful when dealing with knives that have wooden handles. Never soak knives that have wooden handles, for any extended period of time. The water will cause the handle to swell and in the process destroy your knife. Instead hand wash them and rub mineral oil on the handle to preserve its shining finish.

If you use these tips properly, your kitchen knives might even outlast you.

Viners are a quality cutlery company based in Sheffield, England. They also supply knife sets and blocks, pots and pans and dinner sets.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tom_V_Powell

Featured Family Style Recipes:

Key Lime Pie
This pie uses real limes, instead of reconstituted lime juice!

2 cups sugar, ½ cup divided out into a separate bowl
¼ cup plus 2 tbsp. cornstarch
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup fresh key lime juice
½ cup cold water
3 eggs, separated
2 tbsp. butter
1 ½ cups boiling water
1 tsp. grated fresh lime peel
green food coloring, if desired
¼ tsp. cream of tartar
1-9" baked pastry shell

In a medium saucepan, combine 1 ½ cups of sugar with the cornstarch and salt. Add the lime juice, the cold water, and the egg yolks; mix well. Add butter to the mixture and gradually add the boiling water, stirring constantly. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Stirring constantly, cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the lime peel. If a greener color is desired, add a few drops of green food coloring. Remove mixture from heat and cool for 20 minutes.

Using the bowl of your electric stand mixer, beat egg whites on high until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to whip until stiff peaks form.

Pour the lime mixture into the prepared pastry shell. Gently pile the meringue on the lime filling and smooth to cover the filling. Carefully seal the meringue to the edge of the pastry shell to prevent shrinkage of the meringue. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting. This recipe makes 1 pie.

Easy Print Recipe

Cookbook Review: Cookbooking: the Delicious New Way to Scrapbook


When I saw this book at the bookstore, I just had to pick it up. For crafty people, this is more than the perfect cookbook, it is a delight. With recipes and lots of great pictures to spark ideas, this cookbook is a treasure trove of how-to's to get you started. The instructions recommend using a 12"x12" scrapbook to create your cookbooking project, but it also shows ways you can jazz up recipe boxes and other cookbooking projects, such as designing and creating recipe themed greeting cards. My favorite ideas are the divider pages with pockets where straying recipe cards can be stashed. This is a great way to use up bits of ribbon, extra buttons, colorful papers, photos from old magazines, and more.

Recommendation: red plate iconred plate iconred plate iconred plate iconred plate icon (5 of 5 red plates)
Recommended: Whether you are looking for a fun cookbook for a gift, or would like to create personalized cookbooks to give or keep, this is a great purchase.

Red Kitchen Accessories Review:KitchenAid 14 Cup Java Studio Coffee Maker

KitchenAid 14 Cup Java Studio Coffee Maker (mine was Empire Red) is one of the best pots for brewing a great tasting cup of coffee that I ever used. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, it also has a water filter that has to be changed monthly to keep the coffee tasting right. If the filter is not replaced, the coffee starts to taste acidic. At $10 or more for the filter, I personally find it too expensive to replace on a monthly basis. However, for someone who wants a really great cup of coffee and doesn't mind spending a bit more each month, this is the perfect pot. Since it makes 14 cups versus the usual 10 or 12 cup pot, we didn't have to make coffee as often.

Recommendation: red plate iconred plate iconred plate iconred plate iconred plate icon (4 ½ of 5 red plates)
Highly recommended: This appliance looks great on the counter, and provides a really good cup of coffee. However, due to the ongoing costs, I have decided to retire my pot in favor of a stainless steel percolater (which my husband prefers, anyway). If you like the idea of filtered water in your coffee, this pot is an excellent choice.

 

 

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