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Which ties in with what I said earlier:
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Oh yeah, I forgot the most important one!
- (But should be #1): If you’re cooking from recipes, sourcing quality recipes is just as important as following them.
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Dorot has become my friend for certain dishes.
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Yes! I was about to write “Don’t make random recipes on the internet!”
When I find myself coming back to the same source over and over, I come back to the same source over and over! At least for a framework.
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Yep, clean up as you go. I don’t wash until the middle/ end, but rinsing and putting stuff you won’t use again in the sink/dishwasher keeps the work surfaces clear.
I love the writing notes on the recipes including comments you read from recipe reviews online.
Every time you store leftovers, mark with masking tape/freezer tape name and date.
Keep whiteboard on the refrigerator with names of leftover dishes and date so you use before you lose.
Same for fresh produce/meats, etc: date pruchased and when should be used.
This one is hard for me: keep inventory of what’s in freezer, date, spreadsheet by type. Keep up the spreadsheet as you move things in and out. We have a basement upright freezer so there’s stuff to keep track of and prioritize use.
Same for pantry items. So you know what you have/when to use/don’t purchase duplicates.
Read the recipe all the way through way before you start. Before you shop for the recipe. Weights/volume measurements vary so much.
If preparing a multi course meal for guests,
plot if all out beforehand for all the recipes and making the shopping list.
Including brining/marinades in advance, bringing certain ingredients to room temp beforehand, including cheese, have a well-thought out plan and sequence for doing everything in advance that is possible.
Your notes should include garnishes before serving. I’ve more than once forgotten garnishes I’d prepared and later missed.
Decide on and set out serving dishes day before.
Run the dishwasher when it’s full as often as you can.
Leave time for the cook to shower, dress, have a glass of wine, and check bathrooms before guests arrive.
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Scale improves everything, especially baking. But everything.
It’s not expensive and once you get used to it, you’ll wonder how you lived without it.
I’ve stopped using baking recipes that don’t include weights, and so appreciate how many recipes are now using weights for everything (what’s 3 red peppers, what is a large winter squash?).
Same for digital instant thermometers, for measuring baked goods, meats, cooking oil, even temp of water for “warm” as a ingredient so you don’t kill yeast, etc. Well worth the investment.
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Love my Thermapens. Have 2. The “One” and a waterproof model. I have one set to F and the other to C
I even have an oven model but it’s identical to a couple of non Thermapen models. I think they just slapped their name and logo on this model
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I admit to reading a recipe to get the general concepts and methods and typically wing it from there. I hate having to measure ingredients. I therefore rarely bake. My wife is compelled to follow a recipe, so she does the baking
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As a baker i like to line up all my ingredients on the left side and as they get incorpotated into my recipe they go on the right. This helps with not forgetting anything.
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This is the MO in our household, but with reversed roles. My PIC is the baker/patissier/dessert dude in the house. I can’t be bothered to measure things, and I also look at a variety of recipes before ‘making my own.’
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Yes - and over time I’ve learned that there are some really reputable sources out there whose recipes I just don’t care for. Not because they’re bad recipes, but they’re just not for me.
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Tips I wished I knew starting out (I taught myself and it is still evolving):
Not every recipe will work - and not every recipe will be tasty.
Paying attention is better than fancy equipment.
Fewer recipes resulting in tasty food is better than many recipes of mediocrity.
Substitution of ingredients has limits. 
A few good knives which nobody else gets to use. My precious.…
These things may be obvious to most readers here, but I really wish someone had taken me aside decades ago and whispered in my ear.
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Knives … I have some expensive Wusthof ones but ever since I discovered Victoronix serrated paring knife, it’s the one I reach for 97% of the time. Roughly $12 from Amazon. Get the red one, not black, cause that one has a pointed tip. I’ve given them to friends and they become their favorite.
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This may seem too trivial to mention, but bear with me. For most of my cooking life, I hated how easily kitchen towels would get permanently stained. Bleaching would help, but it also wore the cotton out quickly. I always got plain white towels. Only a few years ago did the lightbulb go off! I now have dark brown cotton towels, which do not show stains.
Kitchen organization: I have an electric breadmaker, which resides in the pantry-laundry room. Not everything related to making food needs to have a permanent place in the kitchen. My counterspace is the single biggest constraint to my wanting to prepare food, so I try to keep it uncluttered.
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I’m with you on dark colored towels. My absolute fave is dark colored with a pattern. Hides stains brilliantly.
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I wish I were taught the patience of searing. Waiting until the meat is ready to move. I also wish I had discovered the fish spatula at a younger age.
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The only knife to use is a sharp one. And don’t hesitate to stop and resharpen during a prep if it needs it.
Run the exhaust fan when prepping onions.
You can’t make a fond in a nonstick pan.
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Food tastes better if you salt it during the cooking process rather than just adding salt at the end. It gets incorporated better into the flavor of the dish. If you only salt at the end, you get bland food with salt sitting on it.
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I look at recipes for the basic concept and then wing it from there
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