1. Make Great Cupcakes: Cupcakes are great from scratch because most recipes use only 5-6 ingredients. My personal recipe uses only baking soda, baking powder, flour, buttermilk, salt, and butter. The most important thing to remember to ensure your cookies are fluffy is to make sure you use cold butter and leave the butter in small pieces throughout the mixing process. A common mistake is to mix the butter lightly into the batter. If you leave the butter in chunks while the cookies cook, the butter will layer the dough and the result will be fluffier. This also serves to make any puff pastry from scratch. Another great idea is to take the batter and layer it thinly over the top of a bowl of soup, then bake the entire bowl in the oven. This will give your soups a beautifully fluffy top. Of course, make sure your bowl is oven-safe before you bake it.

2. Get a really good nonstick pan – If you’re tired of food sticking to the bottom of your cookware, then you really need to invest in a great nonstick pan. The one I have only cost me $30 and I can easily cook an egg without any oil and without breaking the yolk. I’m very partial to Caphalon’s commercial lines, but definitely check out Anolon, T-Fal, and Farberware too. Some other very important features are whether the pan comes with a lid, whether or not the handle gets hot when cooking, and how long other buyers have found the nonstick surface to last. Be sure not to confuse nonstick with hard anodized. Hard anodizing is definitely not non-stick and you will be very frustrated if you confuse the two. The added bonus of a nonstick pan is that cleanup is really easy. Place your pan under water and most foreign foods will easily slide off.

3. Grill or fry chicken without getting it stuck in the pan – One of the biggest problems when cooking chicken is trying to get it off the grill or pan. The key is to be patient. Use a spatula and wait for the chicken to come loose, because it will. Of course, if you didn’t use oil, the chicken would most likely get stuck anyway. But all proteins reach a certain temperature where they will be released and it’s just a matter of being patient and waiting for this to happen.

4. It’s never too late to marinate: Many people end up eating bland food because they think they don’t have time to marinate their food. Even if you only have less than an hour, you can still make a great marinade. Just make the marinade twice as strong and use strong flavors. Here are some quick marinades that have worked for me: balsamic vinaigrette, soy sauce and minced garlic, or lemon juice/zest and white wine. Also try using dry fries like crushed red pepper and garlic powder.

5. Use kosher salt for seasoning: Kosher salt is what all professional cooks use, and for good reason. Regular iodized salt breaks down immediately when added to water. In contrast, kosher salt breaks down more slowly and imparts a more pronounced flavor to whatever you’re cooking. If you want your steaks to taste like steakhouse quality, all you need is kosher salt and coarsely ground black pepper.

6. Extra Virgin Olive Oil Is Pasta’s Best Friend: After cooking your pasta, be sure to toss your pasta with some extra virgin olive oil immediately. Otherwise, you will find that the paste will start to stick after a short period of time. Never refrigerate plain pasta without adding olive oil. If you do, you’ll end up pulling a big block of pasta out of the fridge. Also, when you boil pasta, be sure to add one cup of kosher salt per gallon of water. This is what will give the pasta its flavor.

7. Make Amazing French Toast: The best way to make amazing French toast is to avoid using regular bread. Extraordinary French toasts are made with specialty pastries or breads. Try cutting up a pound cake from your local grocery store and making it into French toast the same way you normally would bread. Another great idea is to make French toast with banana bread.

8. Make cake frosting. Making cake icing is one of the simplest secrets in the world of pastry. To make the frosting, all you need is water and powdered sugar. Start with the powdered sugar in a bowl and slowly add water until you get the consistency you like. Then just use the frosting to make even more delicious scones, cakes, and other pastries.

9. Keep your kitchen knife sharp. A common misconception is that people cut themselves in the kitchen because their knives are too sharp. The reason for most kitchen cutting accidents is actually quite the opposite. When you use a dull knife, the knife will slip out of whatever you are cooking and this is when the knife usually cuts into your hand. To keep your knife sharp, use a diamond steel and run the knife down the steel at an 18 degree angle.

10. Crack an egg without shelling the glass. This sounds easy enough, but it’s surprising how many seasoned cooks still experience the hassle of having eggshells in their favorite foods. The way to avoid this is to first gently tap the center of the egg against a hard surface. Then use both hands to do the rest. If you are right-handed, hold the egg in your left hand and use your right thumb to push the center in and then separate the egg with both hands. If you are left handed, just change the directions above.

Good luck with your culinary adventures!