# data[].attributes.body
Create a short story using construction paper and markers.  Get Rubric from Miss Bassett

# data[].attributes.body
3 things you learned
2 things you want to know more about.

# data[].attributes.body
Read and Summarize

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
I'm doing it all wrong.

That's the first thing I learned in a recent, long-overdue crash course in knife skills.

Of course, I can chop an onion. (I know adults who can't, and that explains why some people hate to cook: When chopping an onion takes 20 minutes, producing an entire meal becomes unthinkably onerous.) But I learned by watching other home cooks.

So, my grip on the knife: Wrong.

My hold on the onion: Wrong.

The motion of my wrist: Forget about it.

In the first 10 minutes of class, it seemed a miracle that I had ever managed this task with my Pliocene-era motor skills. By the end, it seemed a miracle that chopping onions could be so fluid, that using a sharpening steel was so easy, that bell peppers could practically unfurl from their cores at the touch of a blade.

I did not master the difference between a brunoise and a macédoine, but I did extract enough useful information to improve my cooking on a daily basis. That information, along with experience from a lifetime in the kitchen, is distilled in our Knife Skills Guide.

A home cook can lead a rich, full kitchen life without ever learning to cut properly. But there are excellent reasons to learn how knives are used in a professional kitchen.

Maintain sharpness, for safety and speed. The bromide "sharp knives cut, dull knives slip" is absolutely true. And when the blade is sharp and straight, it does more of the work of cutting, which in turn makes the job go faster. "You can't learn speed, you can only develop it," said Sydney Willcox, an instructor at the Brooklyn Kitchen. "Chefs don't use different cuts from home cooks, they just do it faster."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Case for Mastering Basic Knife Skills

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
I'm doing it all wrong. That's the first thing I learned in a recent, long-overdue crash course in knife skills. Of course, I can chop an onion. (I know adults who can't, and that explains why some people hate to cook: When chopping an onion takes 20 minutes, producing an entire meal becomes unthinkably onerous.)

# data[].attributes.body
Use this rubric to practice your knife cuts.