Kitchen Baking/ Cooking Tips

My kitchen has turned into my sweet little refuge lately. It is huge now with plenty of space to cook or bake. Since I have ample room, I have decorated it with inviting elements that speak to me. As I cook or bake, the winter light seeps into my tall windows. My twinkly lights play their magic as I enjoy the calm space. Glorious heat from the oven makes the kitchen toasty, especially welcoming in chilly January! Being in my kitchen brings me tremendous joy!

In our last house our kitchen was a tight galley space, one that I adapted to, but never really loved. That lack of space, especially counter space, made any cooking or baking task a huge challenge. Now I have a 26 x 14 sized room, enough room to host a family cooking and talking. I have plenty of counter space as well as a bar top, where sometimes I cool baked goods on.

If you feel like your kitchen space isn’t welcoming or peaceful you may want to change that. There are simple things you can do to create a kitchen that you love. I’m working on another post focusing on kitchen ambience so be on the lookout.

Lately I’ve noticed some quick and easy baking and cooking tips that I’ve started using and have aided me as I work.

Try covering top of mixer with a dish towel, when adding puffy flour, otherwise flour will sift all over counter.

Store all your Kitchen Aid attachments in the bowl where they are easy to access. I have my bowl lined with a dish cloth as well.

Place spoon rest next to work area and have paper towels handy.

Cool cookies on racks. I have one with legs and one flat one, a double decker.

The m & m cookies I made for work and the school kids

Place in airtight plastic containers instead of cookie jars. That keeps them fresh. Instead stash packaged candy in the jar or your cookie cutter collection.

Place a fresh piece of bread with cookies to maintain moisture and soften cookies. This works great for me!

Place brown sugar in air tight container. It’s so annoying to try to soften it while you are immersed in a recipe!

Have soapy dishwater ready for cooking and baking dishes, pots and pans.

For a busy family holiday meal, call upon the guys to help with heavy pots and lifting. Tom and my brother-in-law Chris were a great help to Bev and I at Thanksgiving. They helped lift the big pot of gravy.

The guys helping with the gravy and soon after we had a sink of dishes.

I found that having the oven on to help dough rise helps. Place on top of stove with damp kitchen cloth.

Plan your baking times, if needed, bake on different days so items don’t rest too long waiting for the oven. On Christmas Eve my cinnamon rolls rose too big ( they still came out delicious but they rose out of the baking pan) while I was baking the chocolate cake. It would have been handy to have two oven chambers!

I am curious what valuable kitchen tips you practice often. Please share with me, for I’m always looking for cheats to make cooking and baking easier.

All My Best,

Heart and Soul 😀

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