I know what you're thinking. Why is she cutting grapes? Who cuts grapes just for snacking? Well, mothers of toddlers cut grapes. And while I've owned this knife for years and always found it useful, it's become indispensable since I had a kid.
I have to admit, I'm not a big knife person. I don't have really cool knives (just two very old Wusthofs, a Santoku, and a bread knife), I don't sharpen them often enough, and I don't feel a symbiotic flow of warm fuzzies when I hold my chef's knife.
That said, they all get the job done, and this one works particularly hard these days. I slice bananas in the morning, strawberries in the middle of the day, broccoli florets for dinner, and lemons and limes for cocktail hour (mine, not hers).
These are all things a lesser knife could handle, but the task is so much faster with a good, sharp paring knife. It's quick and super precise.
Of course, I also use this for peeling things, segmenting citrus, and, ok, opening plastic packages.
• Wusthof Classic 3 1/2-inch Paring Knife, $39.95 at Amazon
I really should buy a few more paring knives to have on hand, like those lightweight ones with the colorful plastic handles you see stacked by the register at cooking stores. Anyone recommend those?
Related: Faith's Favorite Knife: Carbon Steel Chinese Cleaver
(Images: Elizabeth Passarella)
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I have this knife in my set, one of my fave's but my absolute favourite is my Wusthof serrated knife. It's amazing cutting bread and my best use for it is, cutting cheese .
This looks like a photo straight out of my kitchen. I too always reach for this knife to cut anything and everything for my toddler - including many, many grapes.
We have this set:
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/kuhn-rikon-multicolor-paring-knife-set/?pkey=cparing-knives
My husband loves them. But it doesn't fit in the knife block so I always forget to get them out of the drawer.
Huge fan of the Kuhn Rikon knives mentioned by HACB. They're so sharp and easy to use for smaller tasks, plus the bright colors (mine is orange) makes using them that much more fun.
To be clear, the knife shown in the photos is the Wusthof Grand Prix II paring knife featured here:
http://www.amazon.com/Wusthof-Grand-2-Inch-Paring-Knife/dp/B0001WVVEQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1301002514&sr=1-1
I have it to and like its proportions and handle shape a lot.
I just bought that knife at TJ Maxx for $14- they've had a lot of Wusthof knives lately.