How to Hone Your Knife

What you'll need:

• Honing steel
  

How to:

1. Hold the honing steel vertically with the tip firmly planted on the counter.
   
2. Place the heel of the blade against the tip of the steel and point the knife tip slightly upward.
3. Hold the blade at a 15-degree angle away from the steel.
4. Slide the blade down the length of the steel in a sweeping motion.
5. Finish the motion by passing the tip of the blade over the bottom of the steel.
6. Repeat the motion on the other side of the blade.

How to Sharpen Your Knife

What you'll need:

• Knife sharpener

How to:

1. Insert the blade of the knife so the base is vertical in the slot with the grinding slats.
2. Hold the knife sharpener tightly with your other hand.
3. Pull the blade using light pressure straight through to the tip 5 to 10 times.
4. Wipe off the blade with a wet paper towel.

How to Dice an Onion

1. Slice about half an inch off the top of the onion and discard it.
2. Turn the onion to rest on this flat end and slice in half vertically.
3. Peel off the papery outer layers.
4. Lay one onion half flat on your cutting board.
5. Holding the root end intact, carefully cut vertically into slices.
6. Rotate the onion 90 degrees and slice vertically though the onion into a dice.

How to Julienne a Cucumber

1. Cut off the ends of the cucumber.
2. Cut off the rounded edges of the cucumber to get 4 flat sides and a square canvas.
3. Slice the cucumber into thin slabs.
4. Stack the slabs and slice lengthwise into 1/8-inch-wide sticks.