Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

To cut a circle of wax or parchment paper to line a cake pan, fold the paper in half and fold it again, not in the same direction. Continue folding so the paper a few more times till the shape is a long narrow wedge. Place the point in the center of the pan (eyeball it) and cut the wider end at the radius of the pan (where the side meets the bottom. Unfold and you have an approximate circle.

Always measure your ingredients before beginning to cook...doing so makes cooking much more enjoyable!

Indeed to keep your knives sharp -- but I find the biggest benefit from that is that if your knives are sharp, chopping an onion or two, or three, should not make you cry. Unless of course your knife skills are horrible and your brunoise isn't up to par. :)

Don't become a chef unless you love cooking 80 hours a week and reading about food on you free time.

Use a serrated knife to cut tomatoes!

Use a grapefruit spoon to seed tomatoes.

If you have limited counter space and are baking many batches of cookies, use your ironing board for cookie sheets hot out of the oven.

The best way to make a hard boiled egg is actually to take the pan off the heat as soon as the water boils, cover the pan, and let it sit for 10-12 minutes. Rinse in cold water, peel, and enjoy the perfectly yellow yolk (no overcooked green edges).

Keep a garbage bowl handy.

My favorite tip is to keep your knives as sharp as possible. The most dangerous thing in the kitchen is a dull knife. I should know- I ended up in the emergency after trying to cut a watermelon with a very dull bread knife. Never again...

a Rumford cookbook from the 1940's that was my Mothers.she was a fantastic cook and seldom used a cookbook ,it was the only one i ever saw her use when i was a kid. i eventualy ended up with my own copy but it was actualy older than hers. it is great for basics ,& sometimes for a laugh. the first i ever bought for myself was The Encyclapedia of American Cooking in 1982. the cover is gone ,i taped it back on a bunch of times,but finally lost it,many pages are stained. i still go to it for lots of things.since then i have bought & been given many others ,i really love old ones.i have a 1927 first edition of Good Meals and How to Prepare Them put out by the Good Housekeeping Institute. Inside it says you can't buy it but you should tell your friends they can get thier own copy by ordering Good Housekeeping for two years for $4.50.what a bargain , i use it fairly often ,some things never change &those that have are quite often very amusing . peticook

My first cookbook was Jacque Pepin's La Technique. What a master!

Claudia Roden's and her guide to Middle Eastern Food. Dated as this book may be, I am quite convinced that it remains the most authentic, well researched and user friendly introduction to Arab cuisine available anywhere.