After Dinner Thoughts

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the kidney bean burgers!!! I served them on warmed pretzel bread that I had frozen a few weeks ago. I wrote about the pretzel bread November 30th. Boy, is it good. We have had the green bean and mushroom medley before and were quite happy with it again tonight. The potato salad was okay; there was just a bit too much lemon juice. It wasn't bad, it just could probably be better. Also, the potato salad might be better as a summer dish since I served it cold. I also made an apple crisp that turned out pretty tasty.

I had some trouble when prepping for tonight's dinner. I was chopping, dicing, and slicing Saturday and had actually gotten through all the vegetables and had just started on the apples when I sliced my thumb. Almost took the tip flesh completely off, but it's still there. Here's what happened...I purchased a new Kyocera ceramic paring knife at the Chef's Shoppe the other day (they had a terrific special on a limited number of these knives as part of their 12 Days of Christmas special). I knew it was especially sharp, and was really happy with the ease of cutting vegetables with it. As luck would have it I was slicing the apples very thin and had my thumb right were it shouldn't have been. OUCH! It took more than a half hour to staunch the bleeding. It's pretty painful, and looks quite ugly,as you can see. It will probably take some time for this wound to completely heal as it is in a really bad place. At least it's on my left thumb and I am right-handed. Michael helped me out by finishing the apple slicing.

The Koycera really is a terrific knife, when I bought mine I also picked one up for my sister and one for my mom as part of their Christmas presents. I'm a bit concerned about giving this knife to my mom who is legally blind; I would feel terrible if I gave her the knife and she cut herself with it. If you pick one up be very careful!

This afternoon I stopped by the Chef's Shoppe and picked up today's special: a pair of Bamboo Island cutting boards (9x11 and 11x14). The Chef's Shoppe really is offering some great buys on some great tools! And, I certainly love cooking tools. I'm on their email list and get advance notice of the specials they are offering. It really is worthwhile being on their list.