10 Kitchen Tips for My Younger Self

When I was 23 years old, I was asked to bring a dessert to a pot-luck luncheon at work so I decided to bring a homemade cheesecake. The night before, I got home from work late and didn’t have time to bring the cream cheese to room temperature so I took the 6 bars of Philadelphia Cream Cheese out of the refrigerator and proceeded to make the cake only to be asked the next day what the white clumps in my cheesecake were. Not one of my better baking moments but one I’ve never forgotten because I eventually learned that certain ingredients have to be at room temperature to blend properly.

Looking back over the past 30 years, there are ten cooking/baking tips I would tell my younger self if I could:

1. Always buy real vanilla extract. It tastes better.
2. Use navel oranges to make fresh orange juice.
3. Non-dairy milks (i.e. almond, soy, hemp, rice) can almost always be substituted for milk in a recipe.
4. Store fresh ginger root in the freezer and then use a grater when a recipe calls for freshly grated ginger.
5. Mashed potatoes (add 1 cup to the recipe for a 2 pound loaf) are ideal to make a flavorful homemade bread.
6. Buy fresh spices whenever possible and buy dried spices from a reliable source to ensure freshness.
7. Don’t be afraid to try other ways of cooking and baking.
8. Read labels.
9. For a chocolate ganache frosting in a hurry, chop 4 ounces of good dark chocolate (70-75%) and pour 1/2 cup of simmering almond milk over the chocolate. Cover, wait 5 minutes and add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. Stir and let sit for an hour. The ganache will gradually thicken (but will remain more like a ganache).
10. Don’t settle for inferior products. Ask questions. Search for what you want and if you can’t find it, make it yourself (i.e. ice cream cones, burger buns, graham crackers).