A private pianist, Victorinox knives and a fruit sticker album – ten writers on the unexpected gifts they really loved By YOU MAGAZINE Published: 08:01, 23 November 2024 | Updated: 08:01, 23 November 2024 e-mail View comments They’d do a good job on a dinner of old boot SOPHIA MONEY-COUTTS The handles are plastic and luminous-coloured – orange, pink, neon green – but the blades are as sharp as sharks’ teeth. ‘Sorry,’ Mum said as she handed them over to me last year. ‘So boring.
’ They’re a set of Victorinox knives and I barely use any others in my kitchen now – for chopping or for eating. These things are so sharp and serrated they slice through a tomato as if it’s soft butter, and lop the end off a garlic clove with a neat swish. I use them in place of scissors to cut through the top of a new bag of dog biscuits or a fresh pack of coffee.
They make light work of butcher’s string. In the unlikely event that I were to sit down for a dinner of old boot, they’d do a pretty good job of that, too. They’re not particularly expensive (a set of four is £21.
99 at amazon.co.uk); not the sort of fashionable tableware you’ll see adorning tables in House & Garden magazine; but I wouldn’t be without them.
They’re the size of table knives, easy to slot into the dishwasher, and a terrific present for anyone who spends time in the kitchen, as long as they’re not cack-handed and likely to chop off a finger. They’re much more satisfying than the present m.
