1. Duff Goldman has a tip. Spruce up boxed cake mix with any spices you have, or even get creative by throwing things like pumpkin pureé or nuts into the batter before you bake it.
2. Because of butter's low melting point, Julia Child adds one tablespoon of oil to her butter to fortify it, making sure it doesn't burn.
3. I watched a video of Gordon Ramsay's cooking tips and he said to adjust the knob on a pepper mill depending on what you're cooking. I'm not sure why adjusting it never occurred to me, but he says to tighten it all the way down for a fine pepper to use on soups and sauces, keep it at a medium notch for general ground pepper, and loosen it up to grind coarse pepper for steaks and fish.
4. Emeril says if you're using BBQ sauce on the grill, put it on at the end. It's a sauce, not a marinade, and the sugar in the sauce will crystallize and get charred if it's on the meat for the entirety of its time on the grill.
5. Sunny Anderson advises boiling potatoes by starting them in cold water. When you drop potatoes in boiling water, it cooks the outside, then it cooks the inside. Starting them in cold water and allowing the potatoes to heat with the water ensures they cook evenly.
6. Wolfgang Puck says to season cold foods more heavily than you would season hot foods because "the palate really receives the flavors of cold food much slower and not as strongly than when you serve, for example, a hot bowl of soup."
7. Amaury Guichon suggests letting sugar cookie dough sit in the fridge overnight instead of just an hour or two. Overnight, the dough will absorb the humidity and lead to a more consistent dough feel.
8. Giada de Laurentiis's blog recommends getting leaves of herbs off their stems by pulling them through the holes in a colander, so all the leaves fall into a bowl.
9. Rachael Ray advises keeping fresh basil on the counter and treating it almost like fresh-cut flowers. Since basil doesn't like the cold, it's best to trim the bottoms, put them in water (and change that water every few days), and then cover with a plastic bag to make a lil' greenhouse. The basil will be happy, last longer, and will even keep growing!
10. Paul Hollywood advises using oil instead of flour when rolling out dough and avoiding sticky hands. The oil will not alter the dough's consistency whereas the flour will.
11. Ina Garten thinks it's always worth making your own vinaigrette instead of buying it at the store. I can confirm homemade vinaigrette is so much better. Here is her favorite four-ingredient vinaigrette recipe.
12. Carla Hall says if you want to bake something that calls for room temperature butter but forgot to put your butter out to soften it, grate it with a cheese grater. The little butter-lets (that's what I'm calling small pieces of butter) will reach room temp in no time.
13. Alton Brown has a secret for making his brownies ooey-gooey. He bakes them for 15 minutes, takes them out and lets them rest for 15 minutes, then puts them back in the oven to bake for another 15 minutes.
14. Finally, if you're cracking eggs and a piece of the shell gets away, don't use your fingers. Jamie Oliver suggests using another piece of eggshell to scoop up so the smaller egg shrapnel doesn't run away from you.
