There are a thousand books out there about feeding children, but most of them are cookbooks, medical books, or self-help books for dealing with specific problems. Almost none of them are actually about, well, feeding children: stories about what it’s actually like, stories that make other parents smile in recognition.
I felt enough of a void in the genre that I wrote my own book, but Betsy Block has happily beaten me to the punchbowl with The Dinner Diaries: Raising Whole Wheat Kids in a White Bread World. This is not the advice book that the subtitle suggests. It’s about *what actually happens* when one mom decides to try to improve her family’s diet. It’s believable, compulsively readable, and really funny. And it never hectors the reader. I’ll go ahead and spoil the best part, where Block offers her five-year-old, Maya, some carrots:
> “I think you’d like these carrots, My. A *chef* gave me the recipe,” I add, trying to make them sound exciting. “They’re sweet.” She picks one up between her finger and thumb and takes a taste.
> “Yum, they’re good!” she exclaims. I smile, though not too broadly. I’m well aware that if at all possible it’s best to keep a poker face during mealtimes, even if your insides are churning with frustration, or jumping with glee. “That chef who teached you this recipe is a good cook!” she goes on. “But even though I like them, I don’t want you to give them to me for dinner ever again.”
If this sounds as familiar to you as it does to me, you’re going to love _The Dinner Diaries._
About four years ago, I copy-edited an article for eGullet called The Way of the Knife by Chad Ward. In it, Ward talks about taking a favorite knife and customizing it to his own preferences. I had never heard of anyone doing such a thing and didn’t even know it was possible. He used terms like _gyutou_ and _ubersteel._ I had worked in a kitchen store, selling knives, and hadn’t realized there was anything to know about knives beyond Wusthof, Henckels, and Global.
Now Chad has turned his knife knowledge into a book: An Edge in the Kitchen. It covers buying, using, and sharpening kitchen knives. That sounds unbelievably boring, I know. It’s not. I devoured this book. Chad is funny and direct. I loved it when he said people who use glass cutting boards are going straight to hell. He busts myths: you don’t need to look for a full tang or a forged blade to get a great knife.
But beware. The cover price of _An Edge in the Kitchen_ is deceiving. It may say $35, but it will probably cause you buy $500 in new knives and accessories. That said, one of the most exciting things I learned from the book is that there are really awesome Japanese chef’s knives available in the $50-$60 range. I’m never going to buy a $400 custom knife, but I’m certainly going to try a Tojiro DP.
I’m still not confident in my ability to sharpen my own knives. Unlike chopping an onion, which I do every day, knife sharpening only needs to be done once a year or so. So unless I want to maintain a menagerie of knives like Chad does (and believe me, I *want* to, but…), I’m not sure how to do it often enough to get good at it.
But Chad has inspired me to make two changes in my knife use.
First, I’m going to chuck my medium-gauge honing steel, which Chad says is junk, and get a ceramic steel.
Second, I’m going to change the way I grip the handle of my knife. I’ve been using this Henckels 4-Star 8-inch chef’s knife for twelve years, and I’ve always held it the same way: gripping the handle with a fist. Even though I knew chefs didn’t hold their knives this way, I justified it by saying that I have small hands. It’s true, I do have small hands, but I know five-foot-zero female chefs who certainly don’t use the baby-silverware hold like I do.
It’s time for me to grow up and start holding my knife handle with three fingers and place my thumb and forefinger on either side of the blade. If I sever anything important, I’ll bill Chad.
You can read an excerpt from _An Edge in the Kitchen_, with discussion, on eGullet.
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(shudders) my in-laws use glass cutting boards… (shudders. again.)
My mother uses glass cutting boards! (even more shuddering)
Oh yeah? Your mom uses glass cutting boards. Oh, wait.
Feeding kids books: I cannot get enough of these. I completely agree about keeping a poker face at the dinner table – works a charm.
I have recently found a great way to get our little toddler to eat vegetables is to juice the crap out of em, along with an apple. He now craves the stuff. He doesn’t know it, but every morning he drinks down kale, celery and parsley.
As for knife sharpening – If you are in the WA area, Kirkland has an awesome knife guy (epicurean edge). If you wanna try sharpening at home, I highly recommend getting the Edge Pro Sharpener. I have used it for years now, and it creates a completely amazing edge on your knifes – and doesn’t require mad skills to use. http://edgeproinc.com/
Matt, I’m actually going to Epicurean Edge this week. My only beef with the EdgePro is the price. Not a beef, even: I know it’s a high-quality product and the price is reasonable, but I’m not personally going to pay $150 and up for a sharpening system. Unless, say, I were writing an article about it…
So when’s the EdgePro article coming out?
Great reviews! I just got Chad Ward’s “An Edge in the Kitchen” last night, but haven’t got a chance to read more than the first few pages (though I did manage to read the five Veggie-Tales books I bought with it). Have read several “teaser” articles and decided I had to have the entire book.
“The Dinner Diaries” sounds cool, too. Thanks for sharing “the best part.” Way too funny!
Have you starting using the pinch-grip yet? If the spine on your 8″ Henckles chef knife has squared edges, please round them over with wet/dry sandpaper (any sandpaper will work, but the wet/dry doesn’t make it look like your knife was dragged on a pavement). Beats getting blisters as your reward for “doing it right.”
If you can, hold off on buying a gyutou; especially one with an ubersteel (Tojiro uses Sandvik 19C27 hardened to RC59-61 – clearly a gateway drug as that’s an ubersteel). Addiction to gyutou is very expensive. Very, very expensive and only gets worse.
Best wishes,
Thom
Thom, you couldn’t be more timely. I stopped using the pinch-grip on the Henckels for exactly the reason you describe. (I also have a Forschner, which is nicely rounded, so I’ve been using that more.) But I’m taking my knives in for sharpening this week and am going to ask them to round off the spine of the Henckels.
Should be back soon! I’ll report. I managed to go to Epicurean Edge without buying an new knives, but I got a ceramic steel and have my eye on my first Japanese knife.
Epicurean Edge is completely awesome I have to say, but it gets really expensive in there. The good news is that Daniel has a great range of knives, and is really knowledgeable, so you don’t have to buy the 500 buck knife!
I got a Shun a couple of years ago and absolutely love it.
As regards edge pro – I figured it was somewhat of an investment. I have 4 knives I use a lot, and in just a couple of years the edge-pro has paid for itself in sharpening costs.
The goods news though – if you buy a knife from Epi Edge, he will do the first sharpening for free. Saves 30 bucks or so.
Did he show you how to correctly use the ceramic steel? (I guess your new book does that too.
If you ever wanna check out Edge Pro, feel free to give me a shout.
More book reviews please. Thanks.
Matt, yeah, let’s have an Edge Pro playdate. I can practice on my $25 Forschner.
Andrew, will do.
What do you folks think of the ChefsChoice electric knife sharpening system?
I think it’s pretty good, Joanna. One of the models has an extremely aggressive slot for extra-dull knives that you should probably never use, but the basic two-stage one works pretty well. It shouldn’t be used with knives with a full bolster, because you can’t sharpen close enough to the bolster, but this is a general problem that’s not restricted to electric sharpeners. I have one knife with a full bolster and one without, and I’m planning to ditch the full bolster one at some point.
YAY Ceramic sharpening rods! They’re Amazing!
You should come to kirkland sometime with me to get your knives sharpened at epicurean edge and try out some of the japanese chef knives…also he customizes knives for rediculously cheap, i think he worked on mine for like ten dollars extra when he sharpened them (and he can remove full bolsters)
Hey, Brandon, I did go to Epicurean Edge, and I’m getting my knives back tomorrow. I had him round the spine of my Henckels. I’m thinking about trying a Japanese knife at some point; let’s chat about them soon.
I read Chad’s book three times on my recent trip to England (you need something to do when stuck in an airport or on an 8 hour flight). It is funny, informative, and a very easy read. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in knives or cooking. As an at home cook I loved it.