1.Don't have a juicer? Use sturdy tongs to extract juise from a halved lemon or lime.
2.A deep, narrow asparagus pot with a removable steamer basket is good for boiling cans of sweetened, condensed milk for dulce de leche. It also works nicely for corn.
3.To pit an olive, rap it sharply with the side of a heavy knife. Or roll a rolling pin over some olives with just enough pressure to make the pits pop out.
4.Line a baking pan with a parchment-paper sling that hangs over the sides to help you lift out sticky loaves, brownies or bars after they have cooled.
5.How do you know when to stop adding dustings of flour to bread dough while kneading? It's good when it sticks to the counter yet pulls away cleanly when you tug on it.
6.Mince garlic with salt. It will jump around less and be easier to chop into a paste if desired.
7.Instead of cutting cold butter into bits for pastry dough, grate it in the large holes of a box grater.
8.To keep shortening super-cold and firm for pastry dough, freeze it.
9.Instead of messing around trying to oil the barbecue grate, lightly coat the outside of your meat or burgur patty with oil.
10.Egg whites whip better when at room temperature. For maximum fluff, start with a dry bowl without a speck of fat in it. Some people even wipe the bowl with vinegar.
11.Cold eggs are easier to separate.
12.Cook meat slightly underdone, then let it sit, tented with foil. The temperature will rise and it will continue to cook briefly.
13.Some people slice the rounded dome off the bottom layer of a cake to make a level base. A better way: place the bottom layer upside down. This gives you a flat surface, plus you preserve more cake and don't have to bursh away so many crumbs that otherwise get mixed in with the icing.
14.Before frosting a cake, line your platter with two sheets of waxed paper that overlap in the middle, or with four strips arranged in a square. Put the cake on top. After frosting, pull out the paper and voila, clean platter.
15.Meat will be moister if you let it sit before cutting. This allows the juices to redistribute and re-absorb.
16.Oiling the holes of a grater makes semi-soft cheese less likely to stick and squash. So does putting the cheese in the freezer for 15 minutes before shredding.
17.To prevent a soggy pie crust, brush dough with egg white, bake five minutes to set, then cool, fill and bake.
18.To revive a crusty bun, wrap it in a damp paper towel and microwave about 30 seconds. Eat it warm. This works for hard baguettes, too.
19.Clean your spice grinder bu using a pastry brush as a broom.
20.Citrus zest is not citrus rind. Zest is the thin, shiny, waxy coating on the rind. The white spongy material beneath it is bitter.
21.Citrus flavour lies in the oils in the zest, while the tang is in the juice. If you don't like the texture of zest, strain it out of a mixture, but don't omit it.
22.Has your yeast dough risen enough? Poke it with your finger. If the dent doesn't immediately spring back, it's good to go.
23.Keep a refrigerated roll of cookie dough round by storing it insied a cardboard tube from a roll paper towelling or toilet paper.
24.It's easier to peel an onion if you cut a lightslit from top to bottom, then pull sideways.
25.Baking soda tenderizes chickpeas. For hummus, bring canned chickpeas to boil in their liquid with a teaspoon of baking soda, then drain and rinse before proceding with your receipe. You can also add a bit of baking soda to your falafel mixture.
26.For a brust of flavour, chop and use cilantro roots instead of discarding them. They take the heat better than the leaves, so they're good in stews.
27.Celery Don't discard the leaves on a celery stalk. They add great flavour.
28.Cucumber To seed a cucumber, halve it lengthwise and scrape a teaspoon through the centre.
29.To cut chicken legs and other joints, first slice the flesh to expose the bone. That way, you can see where you're going.
30.Rub the cutting board with salt after you cut meat or fish, this helps you to disinfect the cutting board.
31.To thicken gravies and sauces without lumps, put cold water and flour in a jar or plastic tub with a tight lid, shake until smooth and whisk in.
32.After making pancake batter, let it sit for five minutes before cooking. This allows the flour to suck up moisture and makes the pancakes fluffier.
33.To keep pancakes warm while cooking in batches, put them on a rack on a baking sheet and place them in a preheated 200F oven.
34.Keep a toothbrush sink-side to scrub a garlic press, the small holes in a box grater or other kitchen tools with hard-to-reach crevices.
35.Use a disher to fill muffin cups. A disher is a scoop with a spring loaded attachment that sweeps around the inside of the cup.
36.Clay clings stubbornly between the layers of a leek. Trim the leek, slit it lengthwise and wash between the layers with cold running water. Or chop the leeks and swish them vigorously in a sink full of cold water; the dirt will fall to the bottom.
37.Rub a wooden cutting board with mineral oil rather than vegetable oil. The latter tends to go rancid.
38.Nuts tend to sink in cakes and loaves. To help prevent this, toast them or toss them in a bit of flour from the receipe before adding them to the batter.
39.Blanching ( a quick dip in boiling warer, followed by a cold water bath) is the traditional way to loosen and peel the skins of tomatoes, peaches and the like. Buy a serrated vegetable peeler instead; it's faster and easier. You can even peel a bell pepper with this gadget.