For easier pouring, coat measuring cups and utensils with vegetable cooking spray before measuring corn syrup or honey.

Spoon flour into a measuring cup, and level with a knife for an accurate measurement.

When making a chocolate cake, dust cake pans with cocoa powder instead of flour.

To open champagne or sparkling wine safely, fit the pocket of a pot holder over the bottle, give the bottle a firm twist, hold the cork tightly through the pot holder, and capture the cork in the pocket.

Freeze bar cookies 10 minutes so they cut cleanly.

Before whipping heavy cream, chill the bowl and beaters in the freezer.

Ice cakes with an angled spatula (available at kitchen stores or from cake-decorating suppliers).

Prevent cake layers from tearing by chilling them before slicing or icing.

Substitute jarred mango for fresh; look for it in the produce section of your grocery store.

Shred cheese easily by chilling the grater in the freezer.

Soften corn tortillas quickly by coating them with vegetable cooking spray, and sprinkling with a few drops of water. Place in a zip-top plastic bag, seal, and microwave for 10 seconds or until pliable.

Add fresh herbs to coals when grilling for flavorful meats and vegetables (dampen with water first so they don’t burn).

After grilling, wrap meat in aluminum foil, and allow it to rest for 15 minutes. The internal temperature may climb another 5-10 degrees, cooking the meat further.

Place a damp paper towel or dishtowel under your cutting board to keep it from sliding.

Sharpen knives frequently. More kitchen accidents occur with dull ones.

Keep salt from clumping by adding a few grains of rice.

Cool cookies completely before storing. Put different types in separate containers so they will keep their original flavors and textures.

Do not wash strawberries until you are ready to use them. They keep better dry.

If you add too much salt to a soup or stew, drop in a raw potato and boil for 5 minutes. When you remove the potato, the overly salty taste will be gone.

A slice of bread can remove the scorched taste from rice. Place the bread on top of the rice and replace the pot lid and wait a few minutes. Remove the bread and the scorched taste should be gone.

Sprinkle a little salt in your frying pan before cooking to keep the grease from splattering.

You won’t waste syrup or honey if you first dip your measuring cup in flour. Sticky mixtures will slide out easily and completely.

Thicken gravy quickly by adding instant mashed potatoes instead of flour to the water mixture.

Though it is a truly thankless task, cleaning behind your fridge will keep it running longer and more efficiently. Another fridge cleaning tip: Make sure the unit is level. An unlevel refrigerator works harder than it needs to and wastes energy.

Remove odors from your fridge by placing a vanilla extract soaked cotton ball inside. Another popular d is to leave a cup of baking soda or a slice of lemon in the fridge at all times.

Believe it or not, sour milk cleans copper. Pour the milk in a flat dish and soak the copper in it for an hour. Then, clean as usual. Another, less smelly way, is to rub your copper or brass with a lemon and salt mixture and dry it with a soft cloth.

Season an iron skillet by spreading a tablespoon of oil. in a the pan and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

Place bay leaves in kitchen drawers and in flour/sugar containers to keep crawling insects away.

Dry mustard will remove onion odors from your hands or cutting board. Rub in, then rinse off.

Heating lemons before squeezing them will give you double the amount of juice. When you buy lemons, look for those that have the smoothest skin and no points on the ends. These will have better flavor and more juice. If you love fried fish but not the smell, soak your fish in lemon juice for about 20 minutes before frying.

When chopping eggs for egg salad, put all the peeled eggs into a bowl and run a pizza cutter over them until they are chopped.