KYH,
Whew is certainly the word for it!!! But thank you for your info. Now I just have to devote and afternoon & probably the evening also to making some of them!

Approach the world of small plates the same way you would eat an elephant: one bite at a time.

In short, don't bite off more than you can chew. And remember, you will learn new techniques as you go along. But there is a definate learning curve.

If at any time it stops being fun, stop! That's the best advice I can give.

Thank you for the advice. I guess for myself there is no better place to start than just jumping in with both feet and giving it a try. As you said if it quits being fun, just stop! I have not got a problem with that! Morimoto is a pro with his knife that is for sure, he makes it look like a piece of cake! I can only dream!

He's the top, that's for sure.

I once had the great pleasure of using one of those hand-forged Japanese knives. An incredible pleasure. But the fact is, it's more the man than the tool. Nobody, and I mean nobody, comes close to him. An amazing virtuoso.

It really amused me when, on one of the Search for the Next Foodnetwork Star episodes they sent the contestents to him to demonstate their knife abilities. You can imagine his reaction when most of them didn't know what knife to use for which job. And the things they didn't know. One of them didn't know what julienne meant. And another wouldn't even try to filet a fish.

Be that as it may. In my next life guess who I'm going to be.

So, how about an update, Cathy. How you making out with the small plates thing?