If you’re looking for a stocking stuffer for the cook in your family, this is the perfect gift. Both novice and experienced cooks will find this useful. Looking at the synopsis, I would be interested not only in finding out how to peel an egg in record time, but without cutting my fingers in the process.

Synopsis

Restart the grill with a hairdryer. Use chopsticks to dry wine glasses spot-free. Peel a kiwi with a spoon. Skewer cheese using pretzel sticks. Leak-proof a cone with mini-marshmallows. Slice strawberries with an egg slicer. Protect a cake during transport with toothpicks with mini-marshmallows.

Soften butter with a rolling pin. Prevent a scorched saucepan with marbles. Clean a garlic press with a toothbrush. Melt chocolate with a coffee maker. Pit cherries with a paperclip. Drain lobster with a pair of scissors.

What’s the best way to preserve leftover herbs, peel eggs in record time, or chop chocolate with ease? Ever wondered if it’s possible to soundproof your coffee grinder or tame the heat of fresh chiles? Find the answers to these questions and more in this indispensable A–Z handbook. Even the most experienced cook will find that these tips—the most highly-rated feature of Cook’s Illustrated magazine—-deliver unique and clever solutions to common kitchen problems.

Many years ago, I took a home economics class in junior high school, where the teacher taught us how to make chocolate chip cookies, using the metrics system. Since I’ve never quite mastered the fractions system, I found learning the metrics system was much easier. It’s a shame that the United States hasn’t adopted what everyone in the world is using.

The link below will take you to a website that has tables for dimensions, oven temperatures, volume and weight, and ingredient equivalents.

Cooking Conversions

I’m not a wine drinker, but I love to cook with wine, especially Merlot. I’d opened a brand new bottle on Sunday for the lasagna and set the bottle upright. I figured that since I found it that way in the grocery store, that was the way I’d store it. As it turned out, that was the wrong way because the cork dried up and expanded. Wine should be stored on its side to keep the cork wet.

The cork was so dry and rigid that it caused my corkscrew to snap. My mother-in-law was able to release the cork by holding it under lukewarm water for several minutes. Then she used a cork puller to pry it loose.