Who said that you can only use kitchen utensils? How about going to the hardware store to get those things that in the kitchen store will cost you a bundle?

Instead of using a knife to break apart chocolate or frozen liquids, try this:

Keep a cheap chisel on hand. The chisel’s sturdy edge does a better job and keeps your knives’ sharp, delicate edges out of harm’s way. Place the chisel on chocolate or ice, angled away from you and using short quick strokes, chip into pieces.

If you are a baking buff (like me!) and have limited space in your kitchen drawers, then run and get a inexpensive plastic toolbox and store your baking gadgets (cookie cutters, measuring cuts, spatulas, etc.) in it.

Like any good cook, we have our successes and our unsuccessful cooking experiences.

And like any REALLY, SMART cook, we hide those failures pretty fast. How many of you out there have scratched a lopsided cake by throwing it in the trash, as you are pulling out the ingredients for a second time around? Because, you know, “the kitchen is not the boss of me and you are going to get it right!”

Show of hands? Anyone? *Cough, cough* - yeah, I thought so.

So, while we do not like to speak of our failures, we do like to learn not to repeat them. Us, home cooks (and I’m going to take a guest that even the most famous chefs too) learn pretty fast from our mistakes. And if anyone out there is like me, we make lots and lots of notes in order for that fiasco not to happen again.

So this is where this post comes in. Throughout the years, I have kept the back of my cookbook blank of recipes and instead use it to write tips, and clever solutions for common kitchen problems.

Sweet Kitchen Tips 2

Sweet Kitchen Tips 1