How to sharpen a knife with a cup!

Did you think my blog post title had a typo in it?  Nope!  Here's a quick tutorial on how to quickly sharpen your average quality home knife.  I say 'average' because this isn't something you'd want to do on your $200 chef knife.  Not that anyone reading my budget-minded blog has them, but you never know.  On with the tut...

You will need one dull knife and one coffee cup/mug...that's it!  Really!

First, I'll show you just how dull my $6 grocery-store-bought knife is!

This is your average piece of copy paper.  See how the knife cuts jaggedy 

and then starts to tear the paper?  That baby is dull as dishwater!

So, here's my solution.  Don't ask me where I saw this.  You turn your

cup upside down like so.  Yes, that's some old Martha Stewart Everyday 

Living from back in the Kmart days.  I love these dishes, actually. 

Anyway, quit sidetracking me.  You see that little white ring of uncoated porcelain?  

Is it porcelain?  Heck, I dunno!  Anyway.....

You take your knife blade and hold it at about a 30 degree angle

against the unfinished part of the cup.  I like to start it going AWAY from me

just in case.  Start at the wider end and drag the knife downward.

until you get to the tip.  Repeat several times.  Yes, this will make a

silvery-black mark on the unfinished part.  Will it come off?  I don't

know.  I just throw my cup back in the cupboard when I'm done!

Then, carefully turn the knife over and do the other side.  Use caution

when bringing it toward yourself.  Try to use control over trying to work

quickly.  That's just a recipe for disaster, honestly.  Looking back, I 

probably should have put the cup on a towel first to minimize sliding around.

Wipe your knife blade off with a clean towel.  I know, you were

gonna get a skanky one off the bathroom floor, right?  Yeahhhh!

BTW, don't leave your towels on the floor...that's disgusting

and it builds up stinkyness and bacteria.  This is directed at my son.

Moving on....(and I wonder why people think I'm crazy!)

Try the paper test again!  Heyyyy, this time it cuts cleanly!

(Well, actually it didn't.  I had to scrape the knife a few more

times on each side, but you didn't need to know that)

So, if you don't have a fancy schmancy knife sharpener, this is a quick remedy.  We actually do have a knife sharpener, but it really doesn't seem to do a very good job. This gave really quick results.  Give it a try and let me know what you think!  Sure made cutting my tomatoes a lot easier!

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