A Tip and a Tool for Friday

It's been a busy week, so this one is gonna be fast.

TIP A good rule for buying most vegetables, especially tomatoes in winter, is to go for the ones that feel heavy for their size.  For onions, choose smooth, taut skins over wrinkly ones.  For melons, well, as Dave Dietz at Central Market said: "Melons are like people: only God knows what's inside."

TOOL The Diamond Fingers Knife Sharpener has made my kitchen a much happier place recently (thankfully, all connection to Rachel Ray vanishes with the packaging, in case that's a concern).  When I first discovered David Lebovitz and surfed his blog, I knew I had struck gold when I found this amazing blog post on knives a mere month before my friend Missi was due to arrive.  She: rabid about knife sharpening and preservation.  Me: not so much. In fact, I had never sharpened my knives.  So, I bought the Oxo chef's knife and Blade Savers as David recommended (a damn good deal), a paring knife that Cook's Illustrated liked, and the Furi Fingers.  Oh the difference to me and my cooking to have rescued my knives from their dull stupor!  I thank David Lebovitz for his great and helpful blogging, and Missi for pulling me up to her standards.