Get Your Knives Sharpened, I Mean It.

I've told the tale more than once about Gran Fran's aversion to sharp knives. She winces whenever I take one out of my knife block. My brother once demonstrated how much more dangerous her butter knives were than his super swanky sharp chef's knives. To no avail, she continues to believe it's safer to have dull knives in her kitchen.

I have had some of my knives for almost twenty years and they've never been sharpened. It occurred to me that on Christmas Eve several  years ago my friends and family showed up with their own chef's knives. When asked why, they all said that my knives were too dull and they refused to cook with them. I didn't agree, and stubbornly refused to get them sharpened.

The other day, I was walking to my neighborhood farmer's market and saw the knife sharpening truck. I remembered stories from Gran Fran's childhood that included the traveling knife sharpening man. She had described a horse drawn truck of sorts with some sort of  a sander, which I believe was powered by a foot pedal, but not too sure. You'd drop your knives off and a bit later, you'd get them back. I'm a little hazy on the details, but the truck in my neighborhood seemed to fit the bill. You can read her post about the sharpening man here.

If this truck was close to what Gran Fran was describing from a good 60 years ago, I figured I'd give it a go. It was time, I decided, to see if my friends and family were right. So I packed up all six of my knives and handed them over to Saucy Joe for some sharpening.

Let me tell you, when I picked them up from him, he showed me that they could cut through paper, like nothing at all. I got them home and cut some veggies and meat. The slices were thin, even and incredibly easy. The knives were better than new (though maybe they were once this sharp, I clearly can't remember). And, I didn't even use a serrated knife for the tomatoes, just my regular chef's knife!

Saucy Joe has a video on his site that shows one and all how to sharpen your knives in between professional sharpening appointments. If you have a traveling sharpening truck in your town, please, go get your knives sharpened. You will be amazed!