Woohooo! I hit the jackpot…

Here is the scoop: I have worked for the same company for 10 years now. Whee! On your major anniversaries, my employer gives you a present as a small token of ownership. At one year, I received a keychain in the shape a metal pyramid with very pointy corners. It would draw blood if you were absent minded and put it in your pocket. I felt the pain and blood summed up my first year with the company perfectly.

My five year gift was a Swiss Army knife and a set of binoculars. When I opened the package, my hubby quipped that I would get the rifle and ammo for my ten year gift. While the binoculars are gathering dust in a closet somewhere, the army knife has been one of the most useful items I have ever received. Hur-rah!

And now for my ten year gift! Now, I need to be truthful. Except for the keychain, I could have picked any number of items: gold necklaces, luggage, dvd/vhs players, or mantle clocks, among other items. But when I opened the webpage, I saw the one item I knew I must have: a Henckels knife set.

I had been shopping for new knife set for a while, debating which one to get..maybe just buy a good chef’s knife and build from there…Henckels or Wusthof? Top of the line or mid-range? Spending $90-$120 on one knife is a lot for a working class gal like me. My mother had given me a set of “ever-sharp” knives for Christmas a few years back and I had been limping by ever since.

The only problem was – you could not tell what line the knife set was from. I looked at the picture for hours, researched online and compared the photo on the website to all those on the Henckels site…all to no avail. I finally had to admit, that even the crappiest blade from Henckels would be far superior to an ever-sharp knife set that was several years old – so I hit the button.

That was a week ago - and I now have a shiny new set of knives in my kitchen. My family has been taking turns cutting various items. They murmur admiringly at the construction. My daughter was seen stroking the blade of the chef’s knife. My hubby actually did a little dance as he carved off a paper thin slice of roast beef. Of course, this means I have been taking advantage of the situation by giving them lots of items to chop, dice and slice.

The set comes from the Twin Gourmet line – not the top but better than anything I have owned before. My one and only complaint is that the block is just too freaking big for my kitchen. I have precious little counter space, so taking a cue from Michael Chu over at Cooking for Engineers, I am going to purchase the Edge-Mag knife guards so I can safely stow them away between uses.

Now, provided I am still gainfully employed by the same company in five more years, I wonder what other implements of destruction will be on the gift list then? Machetes? Caltrops? Cuisinart? I can’t wait…