Perfect for the cooking gardener

With all the kitchen gizmos out there, and there are a lot of them, every now and again I discover something perfectly simple and brilliant. This is one of those that I first saw last Christmas as a gift.

They're a set of herb scissors that are perfect for cutting chives or parsley for your food.

I know that I love fresh parsley and chives garnishing my soups and pastas, but using a knife and cutting board isn't my all-time favorite way of chopping them. I also know you can use a set of regular scissors and a glass to chop herbs, but again I don't find it all that efficient. These on the other hand? With five sets of blades perfectly spaced apart, each snip provides bits of herb that are just the right size. They're not that difficult to clean either. Most of the time I find running water washes away any clogging bits. The rare times it doesn't - or if I'm not done using the scissors to chop, a knife blade works well - just as I would use one to clear a pastry-cutter.

I will admit that these herb scissors aren't ideal for all types of herbs - thyme or rosemary are still better chopped against a cutting board. Still, since I got myself a set I've been finding that I duck out to the garden to get some parsley or chives a bit more often than I did last year. The convenience factor of these is great.