Beauty can appear in the oddest places, without any intent

Witness the chopping block bowl above, made not in Japan but in good old Clifton Park, New York, by one Sandra Jaffe.

She's a designer who has arthritis in her hands, and she loves to cook.

So she created this beautiful handmade oak chopping block bowl along with a matching rocking knife

so she could chop comfortably and avoid the setup and cleanup of food processors and their ilk.

The bowl prevents you from chasing small amounts around a flat cutting surface; the flip side serves as a small, solid cutting board.

The stainless steel knife comes with its own matching wood stand.

The bowl/block (9" square x 1.75" thick) normally runs $55, the knife $20.

Her website's running a January sale, though; the bowl's $39, the set (bowl + knife/stand) $59.

There's also a larger size of both bowl and knife available.

[via Renee Schettler and the Washington Post]