Patapsco Mike

At the prices some of you are throwing around, you could get a full custom knife made to your specs with better steel than any of the pictured knives. I got a custom santoku and paring knife in S30V steel for $250 from a relatively unknown maker. Beautiful knife with stabilized burl amboyna scales and mosaic pins. I have some pretty nice Wusthof, Henckles, and WMF knives, and the custom pair blows them out of the water in comfort, edge holding, and general usability. I was able to get the santoku at 9.5" and the paring knife at 4 1/4"- both of which are perfect for me but hard to find. If you think VG10 is nice, and it certainly is compared to most 440 class steels, S30V will knock your socks off. Edited to add- this custom was my first santoku, and I loved it from the first cut. Not just because it's a custom, but because of the blade shape. I'm not even sure why, but after using traditional chef's knives for years I now find that I almost never take them out of the drawer.

You can do it, but it is going to take a lot of time and energy to do it right. It will be more difficult than you think to keep the edge even along the length of the blade. It might be a good learning experience to do it, though, regardless of whether it's "worth it." It can be done, and it's not brain surgery. You just need patience and persistence.

I guess I'm the only one who uses a sheet of construction paper cut to size and scotch tape to hold it on the knife... I just tape it to the spine, wrap it around the blade, cut it roughly to the blade width and tape it down again. Then I fold the tip over and tape that. Takes maybe 10 seconds per knife. Works great, it's free, and I never worry about where they are when it's time to travel.

Like so many subtly flavored foods, cukes are easy to overdo. KISS applies. Toast some good crusty bread. Spread the bread thinly with plain cream cheese and cover with sliced cucumbers. Top with some chopped chives, sea salt and just a whiff of cracked pepper. The bread crunches. The cream cheese soothes and adds gravitas. The salt and pepper bite. The light, cool, delicious cuke flavor shines through. We make this for guests all the time as an appetizer, and it's always a huge hit. Guess I need to pick up some crusty bread on my ride home...

Or maybe they save a few bucks on maintenance, electricity and rat traps... "I personally inspected it today. It's not good," Dr. Peter L. Beilenson, the county health commissioner, said yesterday. "It is one of two or three of the poorest examples of supermarket hygiene I've seen in 15 years." I shop at this gigantic Korean supermarket all the time, it's incredibly cheap for so many things and has a wonderful selection of goods. Stories like the one above won't stop me from visiting, but they will make me be extra careful about what I buy.