5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe.

Behind every great chef, there is a great knife - and behind every great knife, there is a great knife-maker. That's where Joel Bukiewicz cuts in.

Bukiewicz is the owner and operator of Cut Brooklyn, where he artfully crafts high-carbon supersteel into handmade kitchen knives for professional and recreational cooks in New York City and elsewhere. Consider him the Hattori Hanzō of the knife world.

He's even loaned one to our managing editor Kat, who says his knife is the best she "has EVER used" - and she's no paid shill. It may have nearly sliced her thumb off – but boy, was it a clean cut!

Kitchen mishaps aside, Bukiewicz is here to enlighten us on how to slice and dice with the best of 'em. Shall we edge onward?

Five Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Kitchen Knives: Joel Bukiewicz
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Take sugary drinks and soda out of items eligible for purchase through food stamps, New York officials said Thursday.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. David Paterson urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture to exclude sugar-sweetened beverages such as sodas and sports drinks from food stamp eligibility, because of their effects on obesity. Under the New York proposal, city food stamp recipients would not be able to buy soda using food stamps for two years.

“This initiative will give New York families more money to spend on foods and drinks that provide real nourishment,” Bloomberg said in a press release.

The Big Apple has been the vanguard in many health initiatives – banning trans fats in restaurants, proposing the end of smoking in outdoor public areas and requiring calorie counts on the menu.

CNN Health has the FULL STORY

"When the public kicks up, when the public wants more, when the public demands to know where stuff comes from and how things are made - you watch what happens," said chef and healthy food crusader Jamie Oliver.

"Because ultimately, business will always win. Money will always win - and they’re happy to sell you rubbish or they’re happy to sell you good stuff. Ultimately, the public has to decide."
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Chris Cosentino is a chef with a mission near and dear to our hearts (and kidneys, and livers...). Says he, "If you are willing to kill an animal, you should be willing to eat all of it."

We've made no secret of our deeply fond feelings toward offal, but realize there's an ick-factor to overcome for many folks. The "Gut Man" explains why he thinks you oughta have the stomach for eating the whole animal.
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We're in a bit of a mood this week. Monday, we polled our reading public on restaurant flaws they just can't stomach. Tuesday, it was irksome grocery store shoppers. Wednesday, we kvetched about party poopers.

Today, to paraphrase Jean-Paul Sartre: hell is other people - especially if they're seated at the banquette next to yours. Company can make a meal memorable, but not always for the right reasons. We've all been privy to couples' squabbles, the over-served, the insufficiently parented, the overly affectionate - the list goes on.

Whose behavior puts you off your pommes frites?

Sink your teeth into today's top stories from around the globe.

• A handful of walnuts a day will keep the stress away. - WebMD

• New findings show binge drinking is common among U.S. adults, particularly among high school students and those with higher household incomes. - Center for Disease Control and Prevention

• Old MacDonald had a farm, and McDonald's had a FarmVille. For today only, the fast-food company is partnering with the popular social-media game. - USA Today

• Wherein the first Hooters in Britain is called "more offensive than a lapdancing club." - Daily Mail

• One Georgia man could face up to $30,000 in fines for growing too many organic vegetables in his garden. - boingboing

What to do if you're a Wall Street banker who just got laid off from your bond-trading job?

If you're Brad Estabrooke, who was laid off in 2008, you dump your bonds for gin.

"I didn't consider distilling until I read an article in an in-flight magazine actually. The author was saying some laws had changed and now, it was feasible to open a small distillery for the first time since Prohibition," said the owner of Breuckelen Distilling Company.

CNNMoney has the FULL VIDEO.

While you're frying up some eggs and bacon, we're cooking up something else: a way to celebrate today's food holiday and the most delicious finds on TV.

There is many a way to frappé.

It can be served as a thick milkshake. It can refer to liqueur poured over shaved ice. If you're Greek, it could mean a frothy iced coffee drink. It could even be presented as a frozen fruit drink, similar in texture to a slushie.

No matter the construction, one thing we can all agree on is October 7 is National Frappé Day. Thereafter, you can frappé however you like.

What's on TV?
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"You don't get dirty at a desk," says Amy Rentenbach.

That's why she joined around 40 other would-be farmers on a Sunday morning in a field nearly one hundred miles from her suburban home. They are volunteering on Tewksbury farm in central Georgia, building greenhouses, harvesting corn, and spreading straw.

Retenbach, who grew up on a farm, says, "This kind of gives me the opportunity to just get out and do what I grew up doing, and what I loved doing growing up, and get dirty."
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