Rather than rinse your mushrooms under running water, wipe them clean with a damp paper towel.  This is a more effective way to remove surface dirt, and it won’t leave your mushrooms all soggy.

There’s no need to break spaghetti or other long pasta in half before you cook it.  Even though, at first, some of the pasta may stick out above the water, it will quickly sink beneath the water.  (As the submerged pasta begins to soften, it pulls the rest of the pasta down with it.)   Your pasta will cook evenly, and you’ll have nice, long strands to twirl around your fork – not broken scraps.

Using parchment paper is one of the simplest things you can do to make cooking easier and more enjoyable.

Before you roast food on a baking sheet (aka cookie sheet or sheet pan), line your baking sheet with parchment paper.  This creates a non-stick barrier between your food and the pan.  The cooked food will come off the parchment easily and won’t stick to the pan – and that means less time scrubbing!

You can find parchment paper in most supermarkets.  (It’s in the same aisle as the aluminum foil.)  Click here to learn how to roast veggies.

When you purchase whole heads of garlic, it’s best to store them at room temperature rather than in the refrigerator.  (The cold, moist refrigerator environment can make the garlic less flavorful and encourage sprouting.)  I like to store my garlic in a bowl on my countertop, away from direct sunlight.  (Note, however, that chopped garlic and peeled garlic cloves should be refrigerated.)

When shopping for citrus fruits like oranges (or lemons, limes, grapefruits, clementines, etc.), get a feel for how hard or soft they are by holding them gently in your hand.  Don’t squeeze the fruit so hard that you’ll crush it, but hold it firmly enough that you can tell whether it’s hard as a rock (not good), mushy (not good either), or slightly soft (just right).  You want to choose citrus fruits that you can imagine being able to squeeze easily for juice.  You’ll also want to look for bright, vibrantly colored fruit (oranges should be bright orange, lemons bright yellow), and fruit that’s free of any bruises or blemishes.

When you’re roasting food and you want it to brown, it’s important that you don’t crowd your pan.  Spread your food into an even layer; each piece should lie flat against the pan and there should be a bit of space between the pieces.  If there’s too much food to fit comfortably on one baking sheet, then divide the food between two baking sheets – a big pile of food will take forever to cook and may never turn brown and caramelize.

For more tips for perfect roasting, click here.

Here’s an easy trick to tell if fish is fully cooked – press on the fish with the back of a spoon or with your finger. (Make sure your hands are clean and be careful, as the fish may be hot.) If the fish flakes apart (or cracks) easily, it’s cooked. If the fish still seems quite firm, as if it’s pushing back at you rather than falling apart, then it needs to cook a little longer.

To check how ripe an avocado is, hold the avocado gently in your hand to get a feel for how soft it is.  Don’t squeeze the avocado or jam your thumb into it.  A ripe, ready to eat avocado will feel somewhat soft, but not mushy – firm, but with a bit of give.  It may have black or greenish skin.  Avoid avocados that feel like they have air pockets inside.

Avocados will continue to ripen after you purchase them, so when choosing an avocado, you should consider when you plan to eat it.  Very firm, hard avocados will need several days to ripen.  (Keep at room temperature; do not refrigerate.  To speed the ripening, store the avocados in a paper bag along with a cut up apple and close the bag.)  Be sure to use ripe avocados within a day or so.

Oven mitts are meant to protect your hands from hot pots and pans, but if you’re not careful, they can do just the opposite.  If your oven mitt (or kitchen towel, or whatever you use to hold hot things) has holes in it, don’t use it – you will get burned.  Throw it out and get a new one.  And don’t even think about using a wet oven mitt.  It’ll allow heat to pass through – and burn you!  Be safe and be smart.  If it’s time to replace your oven mitt, don’t dawdle.