Ok, so you have a cool recipe that you would like to try, but it asks for peeled tomatoes. You look at the tomato and remember what it was like to cut it up for the salad the other day and you wonder, How in the heck am I going to peel that thing??

This is going to be easier than you thought! Bring a large pot of water to a boil. While the water is coming to a boil, fill up your sink with 2-3 inches of water and add several trays of ice cubes.

Now that your water is to a rolling boil, drop in the desired tomatoes 3-4 at a time. Once the first 3-4 have been in the water for about a minute, remove them with a slotted spoon and drop immediately into the sink of cold water. This will stop the cooking process. Repeat this with the next 3-4 tomatoes until all that you need for your recipe have been cooked, then cooled. This process is called Blanching.

Next, remove the tomatoes one at a time from the ice water bath and using a knife the gently peel the skins from the tomato.

If you are having a party, but you are running out of time while making preparations you can try this for a quick and easy snack bowl.

Take a large bowl and fill it up with crushed ice. Cut Celery, Carrots, Green and Red Peppers into sticks. Cut some radishes in half or quarters, depending on the size. Cut apart some Broccoli and Cauliflower Florets.

Toss all of the vegetables into the bed of ice. The ice will keep all of your veggie snacks fresh and cold.

If you are having a cocktail party, place a small pearl onion, olive, or other cocktail veggie into your ice cube tray.

Once all of the “cubes” has a veggie in it, fill with water and freeze for at least 3 hours or until frozen solid.

Pop out of the tray and place in your drink of choice.

You just baked the batch of perfect cookies, now if only you could frost them as well as the ones that you see in the store!

If you want your frosted cookies to look professionally done, place an equal amount of frosting onto each cookie using measuring spoons to measure the frosting onto each cookie.

Using a spatula, spread each dollop of frosting around the cookie in a circular motion making a pretty swirl toward the center with the last twist.

Everyone knows this, but how often do we do it?? You are preparing a recipe that you have been wanting to try forever. As you are preparing it you realize that you are missing an ingredient or you forget a part of the preparation.

To ensure success with any recipe, take the time to sit down and read the recipe from beginning to end. Make a note of any preparations that need to be made ahead of time.

Before beginning the recipe, take an inventory or all of the ingredients that will be needed. Making especially sure that you have all of the ingredients that you need.

If the recipe has picture, even though you know how to cook, take a look at the pictures to make sure how the preparations should be made.

Make sure that you have the oven preheated to the temperature that you need.

Collect any utensils that you might need for the recipe. You don’t want to have to stop to clean something that was dirty from another recipe.

Place the desired dry measuring cup onto a piece of waxed paper, or into a larger bowl. This will contain any spills for easy transfer back to the canister.

Scoop some brown sugar from the canister with a spoon and place it in the desired dry measuring cup pressing firmly so that the sugar is gently packed into the cup level with the top.

When you turn the contents of the cup into your mixing bowl, it should hold the shape of the cup.

If your brown sugar has become hard from being exposed to air while stored, place the container in your microwave oven and microwave at 10 second increments. After each increment, gently break apart the lumps with a spoon until manageable for measuring.

During the summer it is hard to keep bread from getting too hot and molding quickly, especially when it is home made or with out preservatives.

To help try to keep the bread fresh a bit longer, wrap any leftovers in wax paper, then an airtight storage bag and store in the refrigerator.

This will only extend the life for a day or two, so make sure that you eat any fresh bread as soon as possible to minimize waste.

If you don't think that you are going to be able to eat all of the bread before it goes bad, using a knife or a pizza cutter cut the bread into 1/2 inch cubes and set out to dry for a day or two in a well ventilated area. You can then place them into an airtight storage container. Now when a recipe asks for breadcrumbs all you have to do is crush the bread and add to your recipe. You can also use the bread cubes for croutons or stuffing.