Knife skills are very important in the kitchen when chopping or cutting something for the first time. Caitlin shows you some simple but essential tips to handle knives safely and effectively in the kitchen.  • Place two small damp kitchen towels underneath your cutting board, one under each end. This will keep the board stationary and prevent it from slipping away as you chop or cut your items. • The way to hold a chef’s knife is to place the index finger and thumb at the opposing sides of the blade at the neck and fold the rest of the fingers and palm around the handle. This way you get total control over the blade. • Push the blade of the knife nose down and slide the length of the blade across the vegetable to cut in a smooth slicing nothing. The nose down or tip down technique helps the knife pierce the item and then cut through it. • The other free hand is to be used to guide the vegetable under the knife. The knife always remains stationary. • The fingers of the guiding hand should always be curved and folded in at the finger joint or knuckles to avoid any injury and let the blade rest and slide against the length of the finger.