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Mine would probably be to measure everything out before I get involved in making something. Seems like a no-brainer... but I don't always do it, thinking I have everything I need... only to find that I'm missing something. Happened last weekend... but really, who doesn't have paprika? Must have been thieves! :)

Everybody has paprika. Most of us never use it. You don't buy paprika--it just generates spontaneously in the back of the spice cabinet.

Seriously? You don't use your paprika? Come on people! Learn to make some chicken paprika or a good pot of goulash. Incredibly easy, very tasty, and great comfort food for the coming fall/winter.

I don't remember who said it to me, but "start cooking with a clean slate" is my kitchen motto. This means no dirty dishes in the sink and wiping down the counters and stovetop. The last bit is helpful in spotting new messes, so they can be cleaned up before getting crusty or cooked-on.

Oh I am so jonesing to make a chicken paprikas now. Thanks for the inspiration!

Never grab a pot out of the oven with your bare hand...it will be hot.

After a childhood of dish duty with a mom who was adamantly not the "clean as you go" type, nothing spoils my dinner more than knowing there's a pile of pots and utensils and a bunch of messy counters waiting for me.

So "clean as you go" is very important. But I didn't start to really learn it until I worked in a professional kitchen, where it's utterly essential.

But on cooking level (vs kitchen-keeping), I'd say the other bit of important advice is "Taste often." Embarrassing how often I still forget to do this.

Unfortunately, my mother has never liked to cook.

However, I agree with the "clean as you go" rule of thumb. After stuffing yourself, the last thing you want to do is clean.

Also, I'm big on preparing any items I can before starting (mis en place) and I've learned more and more to cook seasonally, mostly thanks to Suzanne Goin's Sunday Suppers at Lucques.

My grandfather did teach me that for flat, crispy bacon, it needs to be cooked on low heat for a longer period of time.

My friend James always says, "If you're not cleaning as you go, you're just jerking off."

Read the recipe all the way through before you start cooking.

I borrowed a cookbook from someone and she had written the date and occasion of each recipe she cooked. She added any notes on substitutions or preparations. I started doing this in my cookbooks and it is so fun to see who's birthday I made a particular icing recipe, or how many parties I've served my famous brisket.

I hope one day my kids will use my cookbooks and remember the occasions that I cooked a particular recipe in relation to their childhood.

Hi~ What I always tell my students at cooking class is to take out and measure all the ingredients before beginning to cook. This saves time, mess (not having to reach for the flour with hands full of butter or else), and if you don't have paprika you go out and buy it before starting the goulasch.

Ditto on the prep and the clean as you go. But the best piece of advice I ever got was from my Mom about baking. She told me you can't make a change or substitution in a recipe unless you understand what the original ingredient was for--is it leavening? will replacing it affect the texture or cause the whole thing to collapse into a puddle that burns but won't bake? I have successfully tweaked many a cake, muffin, or bread recipe over the years. Most people I know either make the recipe as is or search for another one if it doesn't quite suit.

O/T, but paprika is great. I buy Hungarian paprika, which is a brighter shade of red and looks lovely sprinkled over a mound of buttered mashed potatoes. I also use a little paprika in chicken piccata.

i second the advice to read the recipe and measure everything out in advance. or at least make sure you have all the ingredients. :)

ditto clean-as-you-go.

ditto starting with a clean slate.

on a totally different note, i keep a running grocery list--whenever i use something up that i need to replace, i add it to the list. i put the items in order of how i go through the store. also, if i see a recipe i like, i just print it out and take it with me to the store to make sure i have all the ingredients.

I ditto the clean as you go rule (although I'm not always good about following it). I also have learned to keep a running list of all my spices tacked inside the door of my spice cabinet. For awhile I would just dig through my many bottles a litttle and if I couldn't find something I needed, I'd buy a new one. When I realized I'd accumulated four jars of bay leaves, I started the list. Since doing so, I haven't bought a single duplicate.

The clean as you go was ingrained in me as well. I don't always do it but 90 percent of the time I do. Makes final cleanup a lot quicker.

I do the same thing as thinkingwoman with my grocery list. I learned from my mom to keep one of those magnetized pads on the fridge and add to the list when I realize I need something, and I always put it on the list in the order I'll come to it in the store.

"Don't be an idiot" has probably saved me from cutting my fingers off or burning my hands into oblivion more than once.

"Don't be afraid" is what is finally letting me cook.

Thanks, older brother!

I second most everyone else. Also: "Don't take a pan out of the oven before you know where you're going to put it down". Good advice for those of us with small kitchens.

don't measure the salt to be added to the soup directly over the soup.

Thank you, gothamgal. Whiel not as far reaching as some other advice posted here, it definately wins for most impact! LOL.

My best advice is how to clean the microwave.

Nuke a coffe mug filled with a mixture of vinegar and water for about a minute. The grime is then easily wiped out of your microwave with a paper towel.

Although we try to follow the "clean as you go" business, it doesn't always work.

I prefer the "I cook, you clean" rule.

From the Frugal Gourmet, I learned: test to see if a burner is hot with only one finger. Because it probably still is and you don't want your whole hand to be out of commission.

"Clean as you go" is sage advice. The thing I've learned most recently can be credited to Rachael Ray--the "garbage bowl," which I've adapted to add a composting bowl.

When we first moved in together, my then partner, who was a total slob everywhere else, really taught me about how to organize and stay organized in the kitchen. Spices never go above the stove (the heat is bad for them), Everything has a place, and when you are done it should always go back there, and finally cast iron never uses soap, and always is dried, and treated before putting away.

Best cooking advice ever: never crack an egg directly into what you are mixing, or into the pan.

Best baking advice: bring everything up to room temp.
I cant tell you how many times Ive bought everything for a cake or batch of cookies the day before, then go to start baking and realize I have to have the butter soften.. or the eggs at rm temp.

All very good, i've started a new courtesy service for my partner, i make him a list of the "meals" in the cupboards with the ingredieents listed. It allows him to cook dinner without my supervision as he has trouble "seeing" whats available to prepare, and what to serve together.

When it comes to staples like spaghetti or butter, when you open the last one, put it on the running grocery list. That way, you don't run out - assuming you grocery shop weekly.

Works well for cleaning supplies, too.

Grandma advice - DON'T WASH THAT PAN!!! I didn't, and now her cast iron pan is my cast iron pan, and it is the best cast iron pan ever.

My other grandma's advice - Here, some tea will make you feel better. It was true when I was 4 and it's still true today.

Not exactly advice, but mom explained the difference between a clove of garlic and a bulb of garlic after a very, very pungent meal I made at 16 or 17. Very handy information.

Turn the handles of the pans and pots so that they are not sticking straight out. Crucial in our tiny kitchen.

My mother does that too SFGail. She was always convinved someone would knock the pan over if the handle was out.

I remembered another one.

If you are going to sear something (burgers, steaks, etc.) test the pan with a drop of water. If it jumps the pan is too hot. If it burns off quickly but doesn't jump, the pan is just right.

Clean as you go.

Keep pot handles turned in.

Always start first those things that can be working while you are doing something else.

If you want to be a good chef, cook at home.

Never cook something for the first time for company; always do a test-run ahead of time. And make up a cooking schedule before a dinner party.

That recipe with the one difficult to find ingredient ... maybe. That recipe with two difficult to find ingredients at two different stores ... forget it.

Stop at the farmstand on the way home. Whatever is there can direct you toward what's for dinner.

My parents' best lesson: don't waste anything.

I remember my dad roasting a chicken for dinner. The next night or two, we'd have chicken & rice casserole or chicken fried rice (nowadays, I like to make enchiladas). Then, my mom would boil and pick the bones and make chicken & dumplings or a really hearty chicken soup. We'd often eat from one chicken for a week. What I really appreciate (and my husband is amazed by) is how you can be super economical, without serving the same dish as leftovers night after night.

I also learned from my grandmother (who is blind) to feel dishes as I'm washing them, not just look to see if they're clean. There's often a small glob (for example, mashed potatoes or rice on a white dish) of something stuck to the dish that you can't see.

I had to teach myself a lot of kitchen things, and I agree with Jim of ChewOnThat about not being afraid. Knowing and accepting that there will be screw-ups, no matter how many times I've made a dish, gives me the liberty to problem-solve or scratch it all and start over without getting upset.

Also, not being afraid means I can turn to any page in any cookbook and figure something out.

Emily

I second (or third) the always make sure you have all of the ingredients before you start cooking. I never have eggs in the house, I don't like eating them, but I really like baking with them. I always end up making late night runs to the grocery store for eggs.

always make sure you turn your oven and burners off.

never put metal in the microwave (no one gave me that important piece of advice until after I started a fire in the microwave when I was about 6 and trying to make jiffy pop in the microwave).

My mom doesn't like to cook either, so this is my own rule:

Use top-notch ingredients. They don't cost that much more than the cheap stuff, but you'll always love what you create.