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a cleaner kitchen already.

I have a teensy, tiny, kitchen (you would not believe how small) built in 1928 basically for oil-refinery bachelors (our town is an oil town). I have to keep up with the dishes. I wipe counters down frequently. You have already heard it said, but it bears repeating: Do not use the same sponge or dishcloth for wiping down counters as you do for washing the dishes. You already know about cross-contamination when it comes to raw meat and vegetables, so remember what I said about cross-contamination in earlier paragraphs.

Turning to knives. In addition to the excellent advice given by other authors, you need to spend money and get quality German steel. Maybe you will have to do that one knife at a time and budget for it. I cannot stress the importance of this enough. Your knives must be sharp and able to be honed to keep a sharp edge. I go a step further to protect my hands. I use my fingers to make a living (typing). 20+ years ago my husband discovered the most wonderful glove, which is practically slice-proof. I wear on my left hand, as I am right-handed and use the right hand, obviously, to hold the knife. He found the glove in an industrial kitchen store. It cost about $20 then and is about the same today. Now the only place we can find it is in the Sur Le Table stores. The last one we found was this May in the Phoenix, AZ area (lost the previous glove in our move from Oregon to Kansas, and I was heartsick).

I have slipped with my knives and hit the glove with the blade. The knife blade will not penetrate the glove. If you try to stab the glove with the point of the knife, the glove can be penetrated through between the tight steel weave Under normal chopping circumstances the glove will keep your hand free of cuts so you can chop rapidly without fear. This glove is a [b][i]must-have[/b][/i] for anyone. When teaching your children how to chop, encourage them to wear this glove. It runs large. I have a small hand but wear an extra-small in this glove.

I also like to use the flexible cutting boards. They come 4 to a pack, are large, you can take them from the counter to the pot or skillet, and throw them away when they are worn out, as they are inexpensive. There are problems with wood and hard plastic cutting boards both.

One last point: Be organized. If I have anything that requires frying or high temperature cooking, I fix everything else first, put things in the oven that need to be kept warm, and then pay 100% attention to the high-temperature cooking. Listen to what the other authors have said about preventing accidents, such as the orientation of the pans on the stove, keeping a fire extinguisher handy, not trying to put out a grease fire with water but using baking soda instead, keeping the kitchen ventilated so the smoke alarms do not go off, etc.

That is my contribution to this topic. I have not seen the glove mentioned anywhere. I do not like bleeding fingers from cuts and have not had one since starting to use this glove. It is the single most important tool I have in the kitchen. Also remember that more people are cut with dull knives than with good-quality sharp ones. I have not seen the importance of cross-contamination other than strictly during cooking mentioned anywhere, either.

Happy cooking. Next time perhaps I can write about the hidden dangers of MSG, other names manufactures use to hide it, and lowering the sodium content of your meals.

Learn more about this author, Joyce Beckman.
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