1. Its easy to overcook garlic.
2. If you clean bluefish when you catch it, it tastes better.
3. Don’t cook frozen vegetables in water, just add some butter and stir while you cook.
4. Clarifying butter means letting all the milk solids sink to the bottom. The finished product should be deep golden yellow. Indians call it Ghee.
5. Adding Old Bay to the water makes steamed shrimp taste better.
6. The secret to fluffy pancakes is baking powder.
7. Fry onions until they’re brown, add some red wine, salt, pepper and about a tablespoon of flour. Instant steak sauce.
8. Marinate chicken in lemon juice, rosemary, olive oil, and salt overnight.
9. Oyster shucking is about focused pressure, not speed.
10. Slow cooking large cuts of meat allows for the connective tissue to break down.
11. Follow the recipe.
12. Never underestimate the power of a Kitchen-Aid professional mixer. Unplug when not in use.
13. Just because he or she is a local farmer, doesn’t mean their produce is any good.
14. Fresh ingredients do make a difference, but most mom and pop places work out of a can.
15. When baking, measure your flour by weight. One cup of flour weighs 4.5 oz.
16. I can’t imagine eating fifty-six hot dogs in twelve minutes.
17. All those nice Italians who make their own air dried sausage (Soupi) don’t mind food poisoning.
18. 5 mil of household bleach per liter of water is what Clorox is selling you as a disinfectant for five bucks.
19. It is better to undercook fish than overcook it. Microwaves finish the job nicely.
20. Get a food scale if you’re serious about consistent cookies.
21. Corporations are being built to provide locally sourced food.
22. Velveeta is pretty good.
23. Adding milk to your coffee breaks down the tannins and makes it easier on your stomach; unless you’re lactose intolerant.
24. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook is all you’ll ever need.

—Ron Cowie