Becoming a better cook can be accomplished with a little time, patience and following a few simple steps. The basics of cooking are easy to master and accomplish. In order to cook meals and dishes that will make your friends and family say "Wow!" you need to try these simple steps and you can be on your way to being the best cook you can possibly be.

Layered bar cookies, fudge and chewy brownies often fall apart or get torn up from trying to evenly cut them into squares. A good rotary pizza cutter can be used to accomplish this task without worrying about a sharp knife slipping and causing an injury. Make some light guidelines in your food with the tip of a knife first and follow up with the pizza cutter for perfectly cut bars, brownies and fudge every time.

To add a little extra special flavor to a plain vanilla or yellow cake mix, use the liquid from any canned fruit that is packed in water instead of the plain water called for when making the mix. Most every variety of canned fruit around comes packed in syrup or water. Choose a water-packed can of fruit your family loves to make a plain cake extra tasty. Frost the cake using vanilla or butter cream and add the fruit chunks as decoration on top.

If you plan to let your chicken sit in the oven for a while after it is baked, then subtract a few minutes from its baking time. Since chicken continues to bake even after it is taken away from a heat source, it can dry out quickly in an oven that is still hot.

If you are making a sauce and you need to sweeten the flavor of it you can used mashed carrots or unsweetened applesauce instead of adding sugar. This is especially helpful for diabetics or anyone else that is trying to moderate the amount of sugar in their daily diets.

You should cook chicken stew if you need to make a quick meal. Take a carton of chicken broth and put it in a large stock pot. Add cooked shredded chicken, diced potatoes, carrots, green beans and onions to the pot. Season to taste and cook for three hours on low. It is a tasty meal that does not take a lot of work.

To keep lettuce fresher longer, do not wash it until you are ready to use it. When the leaves are refrigerated wet, they hold in the excess moisture, which speeds up the decomposition process. By keeping it dry when in the refrigerator, the lettuce will keep better and remain fresh.

Cooking with spices can be fun and exciting. There are many different spices to choose from knowing the spice better will help you to select the correct spice for the dish. Allspice has a pleasant blend of clove and cinnamon. Allspice is described as possessing a cinnamon-like, woody flavor.

When making large quantities of bacon, lay the bacon on a foil-wrapped baking sheet, and cook it in the oven (according to package directions) instead of on the stove top. The bacon will not only remain flat during cooking, but you will not have to cook batch after batch to reach the quantity you need.

Save the stems of herbs like cilantro, parsley, or dill! Do not discard them! The stems have just as much flavor as the leaves. You can chop or snip them into soups, salads, sauces and other dishes - just as you would use their leaves. This leaves less unnecessary waste and lets you get more bang for your buck, if you purchased the herbs!

When you are seasoning meat and fish, make sure you season it evenly. You should always sprinkle the herbs and spices. This will ensure that they do not clump in one area. You want your meat and fish to taste the very same from the first to last bite.

In conclusion, many people enjoy the fine art of cooking. They work in their kitchens with food, in the hopes of emulating successful chefs from around the world, but often lack the skills and knowledge to do so. If you use the tips from this article, you can become a master chef at home.