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Does the thought of cooking your next meal make you want to run and hide? Don't be overwhelmed by the complexities of cooking! Read on to get some invaluable insights on how to create stress-free and delicious meals for your family. Utilizing the tips provided in this article will make you wish that you had learned about them earlier.

When cooking a large meal for a family gathering or dinner party, preparation is key. Make sure you have all the ingredients ready. It is not too much to get your meals ready the day before. Make sure you have the necessary utensils. Did you think of everything? With the right groundwork, you can enter your kitchen confidently and get right to work whipping up a fantastic meal.

A cool and dark location is best for storing spices and herbs. If they get exposed to any light, humidity or heat, their flavor will begin to weaken. When properly stored, ground herbs and spices can retain full flavor for up to a year. Spices that have not been ground may still be worth using for three years or a little more. You must store them correctly in order to maintain their freshness.

They will act like a sponge and just soak up a lot of that water. The right way to clean the mushrooms would be by hand, using a clean, wet cloth.

Cooking methods like boiling tend to destroy a lot of the nutrients that are in vegetables. Quick cooking methods should be used when cooking vegetables so that their nutritional value can stay in-tacked.

Have you ever had a hard time figuring out the grilling time of your meat? A well-manufactured meat thermometer, especially a precision digital model, is always a sound method of seeing to it that the inside of your meat is cooked thoroughly. Meat that is thicker than an inch and a half should be cooked with the lid of the grill closed.

Flour, baking mixes and sugar should be stored in airtight containers. When you store food in airtight containers, it will not spoil so readily, and bugs won't be able to get into it. You can find this type of container easily and at a good price: consider it an investment since you will be able to eat left overs more easily.

Consider drying your very own tomatoes. You can use Roma tomatoes cut lengthwise, or ripe tomatoes sliced about a half inch thick. Set them on a rack cut side up and sprinkle lightly with salt. Place the rack on top of a cookie sheet, and bake the tomatoes in an oven set at 190 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 10 hours. Store in plastic bags in the freezer. Another option is to place the tomatoes in a jar and cover them with fresh herbs and olive oil. Tomatoes stored in this fashion will last for two weeks in the refrigerator.

If you are about to serve salad to multiple guests, serve the dressing separately instead of putting it directly on the salad. This will allow your guests to control how much dressing they want to put on their salad. Give them a choice of salad dressings.

You should try and dry your tomatoes on your own. Cut tomatoes in thick slices or in half, depending on their size. Put the tomatoes, cut-side up, onto a cooling rack and give them a light salting. Use a cookie sheet to hold the rack and set it in the oven at 190 degrees for at least 10 hours. Finally, place your dried tomatoes in freezer safe bags and store in the freezer. Alternatively, dried tomatoes can be packed in a jar filled with olive oil and fresh herbs. The jar can be stored in your refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Don't use bitter, sour, or tasteless wine in your recipes. Using a wine that you are not familiar with in your food can cause you not to like the flavor that's produced. There are cooking-specific wines available at the supermarket.

Mold these ideas into your own methods and meals and feel free to experiment whenever possible. Create food that your whole family can enjoy together. Cooking is a hobby that can enrich both your diet and your life. The kitchen should be the heart of the home.