Athame

Today's New Moon crept up on me a bit; I think my mind has been elsewhere a bit recently.  Actually, I think I ended up taking the entire Storm Moon "off" a bit, even despite receiving a gift that is certain to be one of my most valued possessions I will ever own:

My sweetie gave to me a very high-quality set of forged German knives from the Wüsthof "Classic" series, including the first proper cook's knife I have ever owned.  I had actually thought my old knives were fairly sharp, until I used one of these for the first time--I'm still finding myself amazed at how easy food preparation is with these.  I've been vigilant about keeping the blades clean, dry, and protected in the block, and have been using the knife steel religiously to make sure they stay in perfect condition--I want these to still be my special knives decades from now.

As it turns out, the gift came at a good time; my sweetie and I received some unhappy health news recently, so something that will help me stay passionate about cooking healthy meals for us is a blessing.  Not that I ever mind cooking--I love to cook--but sometimes I forget to sit down and plan things well enough to have proper ingredients (and proper inspiration for what to cook) on hand.  Fortunately, a New Moon is also the perfect time for planning, so despite the less-than-perfect bills of health, it does seem like everything is coming together at an auspicious time.

Now if only Wüsthof made something that could help me enjoy the cleanup as much as I enjoy the cooking... ;)