What your knives are trying to tell you
A good knife, properly cared for, is a 20+ year relationship.
Letter from the Kitchen
I grew up in a small town. The sort where you walked into the drugstore, and someone knew your mother’s name.
That doesn’t happen at Target. It doesn’t happen at Costco. People are friendly enough — but it’s not the same as being known.
Eversharp Kitchen Store is not in a small town. It’s in Minneapolis. But somehow, they’ve held onto that feeling. The staff learns who you are. They learn how you cook. They remember what you bought last time and whether it worked for you. That’s beyond customer service — that’s a relationship.
Maddie Jensen is the daughter of Eversharp’s owner, Tom Jensen, and the store’s buyer. You’ll find her there most days. She is my guest on this week’s podcast, and the conversation made me realize something: I have never taught a class — not one — where Eversharp hasn’t come up. Granted, that's partially because my kitchen drawers are stuffed with knives and gadgets I've purchased there over the years. But also because I love recommending a trusted resource.
This week, I want to talk about knives. Some of the ones I like, how to care for them, and why it matters more than most people think.
Last Week, You Answered
Are Your Knives Actually Sharp?
The answers split almost evenly between yes, no, and “not really sure,” which, in my experience, means — no.
Here’s a quick way to find out. Hold a piece of paper by the top edge and slice through it from the side with your knife. If the blade drags, skips, or won’t cut cleanly — it’s time. This is how Eversharp tests your knives after they sharpen them. The knife should cut the paper effortlessly.
More on knife care in the Skill section below.
In the meantime, snap peas are at the market right now and are worth every sharp knife you own.
Snap Peas & Green Beans with Basil Mint Pesto
The Podcast Hook
Maddie Jensen / Eversharp Photo
Episode 8 · Drops Tomorrow, Friday, June 26 · 7:30 AM
Inside Eversharp: Knives, Craftsmanship, and Community
Most knife stores sell knives. Eversharp builds relationships. Maddie Jensen — the store’s buyer and the owner’s daughter — joins me tomorrow to talk about what it is actually like when a shop knows its customers well enough to guide them, not just sell to them. In a world where it’s easier to click and ship, that story is worth hearing.
Upcoming · Will announce soon.
What’s Happening in the Kitchen
We had an empanada-making party in the Kitchen Classroom this week. The dough alone was worth the afternoon — seasoned with Pimentón dulce and Aleppo pepper, it was beautiful to work with. Making empanadas is right up there with hand-formed pastas like tortellini. Fussy, but fun.
Episode 8 drops tomorrow, Friday, June 26, at 7:30 AM. Maddie Jensen, Eversharp, and everything you didn’t know you wanted to know about knives. The link is above.
The Skill: The New Basics
What Your Knives Are Trying to Tell You
The Quick Win
Never put a knife in the dishwasher. Not yours or anyone else’s. Not the one you think is too cheap to matter.
The dishwasher loosens handles, dulls edges, and does it slowly enough that you don’t notice until the knife is gone. Hand wash. Dry immediately. That’s it.
The Most Common Mistake
Using a sharpener when you need a honer — and vice versa.
A honing rod realigns the edge you already have. A sharpener removes metal to create a new one. Most home cooks sharpen too often and hone never. The result: a knife that feels dull even right after sharpening.
Hone before every use. Sharpen two or three times a year, or when honing stops helping.
One more thing worth knowing: ceramic knives can be repaired. Most people assume a chipped ceramic blade is finished. It isn’t. A professional sharpener who works with ceramics can bring it back. It’s not a common service — but it exists, and if you’re in the Twin Cities, Eversharp is the only resource for this that I am aware of.
One Tool Worth Having
A good honing rod. Not a sharpener — a honing rod. Use it before you pick up the knife, every time. It takes ten seconds, and it makes every knife perform closer to its potential.
Maddie Jensen of Eversharp — the knife store that’s been in Minneapolis longer than most of us have been cooking — talks about all of this in Episode 8.
Recipe Spotlight
MM Blue
Strawberry Snap Pea Salad with Lime Vinaigrette
The Soul
I buy snap peas every week they’re at the farmers market. The moment strawberries show up alongside them, this salad is on my menu. It’s one of those simple combinations that tastes like the height of summer.
The Bridge
Blanch the snap peas before you dress them. Thirty seconds in boiling water, then straight into ice water. They don’t lose any crunch — they become an almost iridescent green. Worth it.
The Mediterranean Edit
This Week I’m Loving…
Since we’re talking knives this week, here are two of my favorites — both from Eversharp.
Knife
Wusthof 7” Santoku
I work with a lot of vegetables. This knife cuts and releases cleanly, and the length is right for my hand. I reach for it more often than a chef’s knife.
Knife
Wusthof Amici 7” Hollow Edge Santoku
The shape is closer to a chai dao than a traditional santoku — which, to me, makes it the best of both. The scallops in the blade release food the way a santoku should. The curve gives you the rocking motion of a chef’s knife. I’d call it a hybrid, but that undersells it.
Cookbook Chronicles
Father’s Day in the Kitchen Classroom
Father’s Day. A family. Three generations — five people — in the Kitchen Classroom making fresh tortillas together.
A number of these recipes are going into the cookbook. The classes have become part of how I test them, which means the people who show up are doing some of the real work.
Before You Go
What’s on your table for the 4th? The one dish that has to be there.
Until next Thursday — keep a good olive oil on the counter and don’t be afraid to use it.
— Chef Laura
Midwest Meets Mediterranean · Chef Laura Bonicelli
bonicellicookingclub.com · Every Thursday at 7:30 AM CT