Maybe your Pinterest boards are too full and you can never find those great instructions on how to peel a squash you swear you pinned last fall because you have so many squash photos pinned and you’ve been desperately googling for hours trying to rediscover — oh wait, is that just me?
So for my own sanity and your delight, here’s a collection of my favorite tips and tricks to make cooking simple, easy, and delicious!
How to make a homemade perfect flaky pie crust from scratch | Smitten Kitchen
The key to a great pie is a perfectly golden, buttery, flakey crust. Its the first thing people compliment and the last thing you want to say is store-bought. Although crusts have a reputation for being hard to make, Deb at Smitten Kitchen has put together a great tutorial that makes getting a great made-from-scratch crust not only possible, but easy. As Deb says, “Don’t fear the crust.”
How to make thick, chewy chocolate chip cookies | PinchofYum
Sometimes, baking doesn’t make any sense. You try a little more flour, or a little less, or refrigerating the dough, or melting the butter, …and your cookies still come out flat. Tasty, but thin. “These are good” instead of “wow“. Lucky for us, Lyndsay at PinchofYum has made a lot of flat cookies to find just the things that matter to get your cookies, chunky, thick, and chewy. Be sure to check out her photos at the end of the post!
How to Pick, Peel, and Cook Butternut Squash | The Shiksa
Squash are a key ingredient in most of my favorite fall recipes, but the grocery store pre-cubed squash pieces seem so expensive and are always disappointing in flavor. For a long time I had no idea how to pick, peel, and slice a whole squash. Then I found The Shiksa. Using just a vegetable peeler and sharp knife, she makes picking, peeling, and cooking a butternut squash as easy as this soup is creamy. Read her great instructions and realize that working with a whole squash doesn’t have to be intimidating.
Bonus Tip | Conversion Charts
I use my computer in the kitchen. I just do. It has all my recipes. It has google. But my poor keyboard. It sometimes gets greasy, crumbly, or all manner of other things from looking up how many fluid ounces are in a cup (8) or how many tablespoons are in a fluid ounce (2). My keyboard became much cleaner after I found these wonderful conversion charts. Russel at Chasing Delicious has created some really nice charts to print (or buy as posters). Hang them on your fridge and rejoice!
Have a favorite cooking tips post you swear by? Let us know in the comments!