Sharp Objects

I grew up in a ‘safety-comes-first’ kind of household. In other words, I was not allowed near sharp objects. Instead, Mom or Dad did all the dangerous stuff for me (if it really needed to be done).

That said, I did not learn how to do the basic things in life…like peel a potato using a sharp knife. Mom always peeled the potatoes (either with a peeler or using a knife sliding AWAY from the body ~ remember…safety here).

Luckily, when Henry and I were married, Henry’s ‘Martha Stewart’ of a sister, Mary (and John, of course) gave us a beautiful, well-made set of dinner knives and a peeler as a wedding gift. Perfect! I learned to handle that sharp peeler with precision and can peel potatoes at home faster than the not-so-average Swedish chef (my favorite Muppet character).

Nostalgic audio clips…

http://www.almac.co.uk/chef/chef/picsound/mup10.wav (Chef explains to Kermit what happened)

http://www.almac.co.uk/chef/chef/picsound/bork.wav (Chef sings)


Of course, this skill with a sharp peeler came in handy when I worked in the summers teaching children safety in the kitchen and how to peel vegetables. (They weren’t allowed to use knives anyways, so my secret lived on with no one the wiser!)

Once in a while though, my inexperience with sharp objects comes out of the closet. Take for example, the visit to my brother’s last Saturday. They graciously had us over for dinner after Michael’s hockey game. Sue and I went to the kitchen to prepare dinner and I asked what could I do?

Out come the potatoes. Immediately, I could see where this was going…

Sue asked me what knife I wanted (like it would really matter!). Trying to save face (and my fingers), I asked for her peeler. After digging into the bottom of the drawer for her peeler that hasn’t seen the light of day for decades (she is quite skilled with the sharpest of knives and does not resort to sissy peelers), I tried using the dull peeler to no avail. To my one potato, Sue peeled about ten. I quickly washed and cut them up. Thank you, Sue, for not saying ONE word (although I’m sure she thought I was slacking)!

(You probably wonder how I peel apples…all I can say is thank goodness for Pampered Chef’s apple/corer/peeler/slicer!)

I wonder what the rules of etiquette are for carrying around your own veggie peeler…