How To Carve and Decorate a Pineapple into a Beautiful Centerpiece

Decorations for weddings and parties don't have to be expensive to impress.

While you may be tempted to order carved pineapples, fruits and veggies for your party, why not try to make a few yourself?

They really are not as hard as you might think and you only need a few to make your table into a showplace.

This video will show you how easy it is ( it really is pretty easy) and how you don't need a lot of talent or experience to create a masterpiece.

Just be sure to watch the video beginning to end a few times before you begin so you can see how each of the cut pieces of pineapple fall into place.
Then pick up a pineapple or two and try your hand at it.  Even if the first carved pineapple doesn't come out perfect, nothing gets wasted as you just eat the fruit.  But you will be surprised how well you can do the first time around and even if you are not amazed your friends and family will be.

Now it's your turn. While you don't need any fancy knives, if you are planning on carving many pineapples or want to create several fruit trays or veggie trays be sure that you have good quality knives as it will make cutting less stressful on your wrists and fingers.

Thank you for visiting Chef Knife Set

Your Chef Knife Sets: Why Quality is Very Important

People who love to cook have always known about the importance of having a set of high quality chef's knives.

However, with the recent interest in professional chefs who appear on television shows, even people who never spent much time in the kitchen are now seeking out high quality cooking utensils to try to duplicate what they see on TV.

It's true that people who are food professionals need the best instruments on the market to produce meals of exceptional quality and presentation. But is this type of diamond quality necessary for amateur cooks?

The answer is yes.

The higher the quality of your knives, the better food preparation you're going to be able to achieve, and the less likelihood there's going to be of you injuring yourself in the process of putting a meal together. There are many different types of high quality chef's knives, from Japanese to French and everything in between.

Each type of knife has a different degree of sharpness, a different length, and a different quality of steel. This is because most of these knives were created for specific cutting purposes, then gradually evolved into all-purpose cooking knives.

At a minimum, your knives need to have strong, sturdy handles.
You do NOT want the handle to get loose or even fly off while you're using the knife! The knife should also be comfortable for you to hold and handle. The best blades are made from carbon steel or ceramic materials, and will last a long time before they need sharpening.

If you can't afford either of these options, then good quality stainless steel is a fine option, especially as it's unlikely to rust or chip as carbon and ceramic blades can.

Most people today have a set of knives for their kitchens, with each knife serving its own unique purpose. There are bread knives, steak knives, paring knives, and more. Having good quality knives in your set will make the cooking process easier, faster, safer, and even more fun.

So when you go shopping for a set of chef's knives, make sure you get the best.

Thank you for visiting Chef Knife Set

How to Make a Tomato Rose

Have you ever wondered how to make a tomato rose?

Little touches to the display of the food you serve can go a long way in making you and your guests enjoy it so much more.
Plus one of the best ways to get your children to eat their salads is to make them visually appealing.

While all the fancy fruit and vegetable creation may look very hard to create you will find that if you look at each one, they are basically fairly simple.
From tomato roses to carrot flowers you will find that if you use the right tools and watch someone else do it a few times you can learn to garnish quickly and easily.

As you will see in the video below that making a tomato rose is very simple. While it may take you a few times to master the skill don't be shocked if you can do it the first time.

The first time that I tried creating tomato roses I cut the skin and thought that I would then have to start with another tomato. However you can hold the tomato skin together as you roll it up and all is not lost.

Many people often use toothpicks to hold their roses together and place them in ice water if they want to make them up ahead of time.

I prefer to make mine the same day as my presentation but I do make them early since I also like to make radish roses, carrot flowers and a few other designs and then I place them in ice water so that they don't wilt.

After watching several videos I found that the following one is the best of the bunch.
Not only does Chef-Instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education, Norman Weinstein show you how to make a tomato rose he also gives you tips while he is making the rose.

Enjoy!

Thank you for visiting Chef Knife Set

Answers to your Chef Knife Set and Kitchen Knives questions

Many of us either have a chef knife set that we have but don't really know much about it or are looking at kitchen knives and don't know which one would be best for our personal needs.

While there are many articles or books that you can read that will give you many of your answers it just seems to make more sense to watch a video that will show you. I've scoured for hours on end to find just the right video that is balanced in its information and is also informative enough to give you the information that you need.

The following video does just that.

Here is a quick run down of what the Improve your Knife Skills video will cover

• How to use your knife to chop up your vegetables
• Which knives are the most essential for your kitchen
• What each knife is used for
• How to correctly hold your knife for best results and less effort
• How to hone your knife and the difference between honing and sharpening your knives
• How to store your knives for longevity and safety
• Which 3 knives all kitchens should have - this is great if you can only afford to purchase 3 knives

Now wasn't that video everything that I said it would be?
The first time that I had watched it, I could not believe how quickly the 9 minutes went by.  I also loved that fact that the video wasn't selling any particular brand of chef knives but was purely informational.

Now that know, go and do.  Hit the kitchen and practice your kitchen knife skills.

Thank you for visiting Chef Knife Set