How to Make a Cutting Board

Sunset at the oasis?  No, just the season's last shreds of basil on the cutting board, caught in the fingers of the setting sun.  Tonight's forecast brings fall's first hard frost.  Only the parsley will survive.

By the way, this cutting board is one big gorgeous piece of solid cherry that was shaped and sanded by Charlie and Siegrun Perrault.  You can make one too, although giant chunks of solid cherry are hard to find.  You'll have to scope out an old-fashioned lumber yard like Century Mill in Stouffville, Ontario, where gorgeous 16-inch wide boards abound, stacked in ramshackle sheds and all lovingly labeled with length and species.

In case you can't make it to Century Mill, I designed a huge cutting board made from easy-to-find maple boards.  It's not hard to build, and you can plunk this baby on top of a frame, throw on some wheels and you've got a butcher block kitchen cart.