Sharpen Your Knives Now
Sharp kitchen knives are essential year round, but absolutely essential on Thanksgiving. Not only will you be chopping up more vegetables and greens than usual, you will be butchering a bird’s animal, and that bird has bones.
Before you plan your menu, before you start making (and freezing) pies, before you even think about researching the “bird heritage” of your knives — and your kitchen scissors — and get them sharpened right away.
Don’t try to do it yourself (if you haven’t already done it yourself) and don’t think your knives are “probably okay.” Unless you’re the type of person to watch and (angrily) comment on knife videos on the internet, your knives are out of order and definitely not ready for the amount of cooking it takes on turkey day. Take them to a professional to sharpen them professionally. If you are going to be doing matchcooking, your scissors also need special attention. (I assure you that bird bones are stronger than you remember.)
If you are going to your parents’ house for Thanksgiving, advise them to sharpen their knives, because knives of a certain generation are always the dumbest. (Or is it just my parents who refuse to sharpen the blade?) If they disobey, buy a roll of knives and bring your own (freshly sharpened) cutting tools.
Take care of your knives now, before your brain gets distracted by meal planning, buying turkey, andcompany-in-going cleanup. Now sharpen them and sharpen them well. The battle is coming – the battle of the bird.