To thank Ben for all of his hard work on our kitchen, I got him a custom cutting board from our newest sponsor, Joseph Thompson Woodworks.  Joseph Thompson Woodworks is a husband and wife team, so Katie actually made my cutting board.  And she did a wonderful job, I might add.

True to form, I am a pain in the butt, requesting custom items.  So, I asked Katie to make me a board with a cherry center, flanked by a maple strip, and the rest wenge wood.  Here she is:

The board has a smooth, sleek, durable finish.  I hate when cutting boards slide around, Katie fixes that problem with rubber feet.

It’s the prefect size for most of our cooking, too.

 

Different wood tones, but each looks lovely together and with our wood counter tops.

Speaking of our counters, we’ve changed our minds.  We’re painting them!  Ahh, just kidding.  But we did change our minds about the mineral oil finish.  While the oil is affordable and odorless, it didn’t protect the wood enough from water and left an oily residue on paper.  And with the cabinets extending to the counters, it’s too much of a pain to oil around everything once a week.  So we made the switch to natural colored (clear) Watco Danish Oil.

Basically, the Danish Oil is a cross between mineral oil and polyurethane.  It gets applied and wiped off like an oil, penetrates like an oil, but hardens like a polyurethane.  Recoat is the same as an oil, too.  Lightly sand, remove the dust, reapply, let it soak in.  Wipe if off after 30 minutes and leave it to sit over night.  Sure it’s a little more smelly than mineral oil, but we want to protect our counters and actually use them, so it’s totally worth it.  Thanks to an unseasonably warm winter, we were able to turn on the vent hood, crack a few windows and get working on the counters.  If there had been a drastic difference in the look, I would have included after pictures, but they still look the same.  Yay!

But back to the cutting boards from Joseph Thompson Woodworks.  Want to snag a cutting board for yourself?  Check out these beauties:

Natural Edge Black Walnut:

Striped Serving/Cutting Board:

And there are plenty more in the shop.  Or, talk to Katie about a custom design.

What do you think of the cutting boards?  Do you buy gifts to thank someone for their hard work?  What did you get for him/her?

P.S.  Use the code OHA2012 at check out to get a 5% discount from Joseph Thompson Woodworks.