Slice off the top and bottom...just a thin slice so it has something flat to sit on, and so you can peep down through the top into the center part of the pepper, and keep your eye on those seeds.
Align your knife with a section of flesh, and slice down through the connective parts, so you have removed one quarter-panel of the pepper.
Keep slicing these quarter-panels away, until you're left with just a pod of those pesky white seeds. Dispose of them however you wish.
Now if you've done it right, you don't have stray seeds all over your cutting board as in past incursions with bell peppers! Take one of your quarter-panels and cut it as required for making dipping sticks, fajita slices, or dices for many other dishes.
I made these into a yummy veggie dip. Mmmm....
I like to butter and cocoa my cake pans when preparing a chocolate or dark cake. That way, when you un-pan the cakes, you don't have a dusting of white flour all over.
It smells so good once you pour in the buttermilk...you won't believe it!
Frosted with marshmallow, coconut, pecans, and other yummies. 
...and that's the only name that got signed in my book tonight. But that is OK.
Next, you will want to bisect the onion from end to tip, through the root section. The onion will lay nicely on your cutting board because you've made a flat bottom for it in the previous cut.
Take one of the halves and slice almost all the way from root to tip again, this time making radiating cuts out from the center. 
Another view.
Finally, rotate the onion half 90 degrees, and make small vertical slices from the tip toward the root. Stop slicing when you are somewhat near the root end, and you don't have much for your fingers to grasp. Please use caution as you are chopping, so as not to injure yourself with the knife.
Now comes the fun (read dangerous and thrilling) part. If you do it the right way, all of your friends will say, 'ooh,' and 'aah,' if you do it the wrong way, they may ask, 'where do you keep the band-aids?' or 'which way to the nearest ER?' I must caution you to err on the side of too little effort, rather than risking injury with too much effort. Gently, but swiftly, embed the mid-section of the knife blade into the pit of the fruit. (You won't be able to push the knife in, it is really more of a 'hack'...a gentle, safe 'hack', that is.) After a few attempts, you will discover the amount of effort required to lodge the blade firmly into the pit of the avocado. The trick is to get the blade to stop approximately half way through the pit. Too far, and the pit cuts in half and the little trick doesn't work. Too shallow into the pit, and the outer layers of the pit will break off during the next step...and that is essentially like stripping a screw.
Once you have perfected the science of gently, but firmly hacking your knife's way into the pit of your avocado, the rest is the proverbial piece of cake. Rotate your knife (as though it were the hands on a clock), until the pit becomes dislodged from the flesh of the fruit. 
Gently push the pit off of the knife (remember it is pretty well stuck on there, you may have to push firmly). Always push away from the blade. A little pinch behind the pit will usually work. Without cutting through the skin of the avocado, score it in slices or cubes (depending on how you are serving the avocado).
Then, take a large spoon (my soup spoons are the perfect size) and slide it between the peel and the flesh of the fruit. Scoop out any remaining morsels of fruit that are usable for your purpose, then discard the skin. 
You now have a peeled avocado, with very little waste, and nary a mess to be found. (That is of course unless you were a little gung-ho on the hacking part, and you left the avocado and knife on the counter while you made your trip to the ER!) All that's left is to enjoy the 'fruit' of your labor in your favorite salad, guacamole, or all by itself. mmm....
Crudite Shooters. Parmesan Flatbread.
Another favorite is an online party supply site, 
