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Getty Considering exactly how to stock your bar can really open up a can of worms. Do you buy separate glasses for red wine, white wine, and champagne? Do you really need those (super cute) Moscow mule mugs? Which cocktail utensils are essential? And what the heck to do they all do? We turned to Laurén LaRocca, one half of the party planning, lifestyle blogging duo Twink + Sis, to find out which accessories you really need. Here's what she recommends: 1. A Cocktail Shaker "Freshly crafted cocktails are truly unparalleled and they really do have a special quality when shaken. It's actually remarkable! Even if you shook up some lemon juice, vodka and simple syrup in a shaker, you'd have a better cocktail than what's served in most bars. Though some shakers are works of art, even the most basic of shakers work great and are relatively inexpensive." 2. A Double Sided Jigger "The key to efficiently making cocktails (that are also...

It's fun to cook up sweet treats your whole family will love. But if you face flipping on your electric mixer with fear, the enjoyment quickly dissipates. It's just no fun when cake blatter splatters all over your kitchen countertop and cabinets, a hazard of using a too-small bowl, or not minding your mixture with a watchful eye as you blend it. Frankly, no square inch of the kitchen is safe — unless you try this super-simple (and super-clever) tip from Little Things. As demonstrated in the video above, all you have to do is doctor your mixer with a paper plate — fit over your mixing tines, the plate will catch the splatter. Sheer brilliance. [via Little Things From: Country Living US By Rebecca Shinners

1. Put paper towels in the salad drawer. Getty Lining your crisper with a few sheets of paper towels absorbs the condensation that the veggies generate as they chill. Excess moisture can make your fresh foods wilt and much faster, so the paper keeps them fresher for longer. AND it keeps your fridge cleaner without any extra effort, because no one deserves to spend their hard-earned Sunday wiping up cucumber gunk. 2. Don't separate bananas before eating. You may think you're being super productive packaging your bananas into day-to-day portions, but actually the trick to stop them going brown is to keep them together as long as possible. Wrap the stems of the bananas in plastic wrap when you first buy them, and only snap one off when you're ready to eat it. This should give you three to five extra days of perfectly ripe banana joy. 3. Put an apple in your bag of potatoes. Apple in bag of potatoes Getty Sprouted potatoes are at the top of nobody's to-eat list. It tu...

No matter what you call them — plastic baggies, sandwich bags, Ziplocs (the widely accepted brand-name moniker, à la Kleenex) — everyone's fought with a zip-top storage bag as you've desperately tried to squeeze the air out of it. So when we spotted this simple trick to getting a plastic bag as close to vacuum-sealed as humanly possible (read: sans extra kitchen gadget), we were intrigued. Slate's L.V. Anderson demonstrates a trick she learned from her mom — instead of trying to squeeze out excess air with your hands, leave a small opening in the middle of the seal and then suck the extra air out with your mouth. It's definitely one of those "mom knows best" tricks that you probably can't believe you haven't been doing this whole time. Sharon Franke, director of the Kitchen Appliances Lab (which often tests food storage products and techniques) in the Good Housekeeping Institute agrees that this is a handy trick to know as you pack lunch. She's ...

Getty AFP The KitchenAid Stand Mixer, also known as the only baking tool that matters, is not a cheap gadget. We use it in almost every recipe calling for ingredients to be mixed, but still cringe when we remember the price tag. In fact, we're constantly scouring the internet for ways to score big discounts on our beloved mixer, in case the one we have breaks or something. So when Williams Sonoma announced that "The Biggest Bake Sale" would include KitchenAid stand mixers, our screams could be heard nationwide. Dramatics aside, the sale is pretty intense. If you're looking for a new mixer, but don't necessarily want to spend $$$, you're in for a treat. Use the code "bake" and watch $$$ magically turn into a little over $$$ dollars. BUY A KITCHENAID NOW: KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer, $$$$$$, williams-sonoma.com . WILLIAMS SONOMA The deal lasts until August 8, and includes a free KitchenAid attachment with the purchase of any mixer. Not every sin...

1. Use two plates to safely cut a lot of little tomatoes at once. Jane Maynard Lay the tomatoes you wish to slice in half on a small plate. Place another plate on top and then run a very sharp knife through the gap between the two plates, holding the top plate securely with your other hand. Voila! Tons of tomatoes cut at one time with all 10 fingers accounted for!  2. Serve ice cream with a knife, not a scoop. Jane Maynard Next time you're serving ice cream at a party throw the scoop away. Just dip the closed ice cream container into a large bowl of hot water from the tap for 15-30 seconds, remove the lid, and invert onto a large platter or wood cutting board, then slice the servings with a hot knife.  3. Use a hot knife to slice cake perfectly. Jane Maynard Run your knife underneath the hot water from the tap, dry it off with a towel, and then cut your cake. You may need to re-heat the knife a couple times throughout the process but it works like a charm, especially on thi...

Ethan Calabrese We start getting giddy about fall by mid-August — when we first spot new pumpkin-spiced foods hitting shelves. A month later, we're suffering from full-on fever (don't send help; we're all  good), and now we're knee-deep in apple mania.  We're baking them with a lattice crust (mini apple pies!), turning them into the base for nachos, and infusing them with vodka (because that's how we roll). Now we're taking a stupid-simple slicing technique often used for potatoes — we tried it with zucchini, too — and applying it to apples: hasselback. Hasselback means accordian style, creating thin slices so the fruit or vegetable fan out. Within each layer, you're going to add butter, brown sugar, and ground cinnamon because ... do we even need to answer that?  This is the perfect transitional dessert to bake while you're waiting for fall to officia...

Getty Pasta's a weeknight no-brainer, sure, but cooking it just right isn't. Here are the biggest mistakes that are keeping you from noodle nirvana. 1. Not choosing the right shape Pasta doesn't come in 101 shapes and sizes just for fun. There's a purpose for nearly all of them (okay, maybe not this one), and they aren't always interchangeable. If you don't have the pasta shape called for, make sure to swap in a similar shape. Think of them in terms of categories: big tubes (penne, rigatoni), little scoop-y/tube-y shapes (elbows, shells), twirly spirals (rotini, gemelli), thinner strands (spaghetti, linguine), wider strands (fettuccine, pappardelle). Then, try to keep things in the same family. 2. Blindly following the timing on the box Think of the time listed as a suggestion, not the Gospel. After cooking more than a thousand pots of pasta, I'd say the box is accurate only about 50% of the time. It's rare that your pasta will be overcooked when th...

Courtesy of Getty/Steven Brisson Photography Coffee plays a critical role in our mornings. It can be the difference between starting the day on an energized note and ... well, not. But that's not the only way coffee is a household superhero — the grounds (even used ones!) are problem solvers all over the house. 1. Fight freezer funk. Good Housekeeping home care expert Heloise recommends using coffee grounds to keep your freezer from getting stinky. Just toss dry grounds into an old margarine tub with holes in the lid and place the tub in the freezer to absorb odors. 2. Help your favorite plants thrive. Try this trick after you've brewed your morning pot of joe: The used grounds are full of nutrients like nitrogen and can be used as fertilizer for acid-loving plants, like rose bushes, azaleas, evergreens, and camellias. Spread them on top of your flower bed and you can (literally) watch your pl...

1. Make your own buttermilk using regular milk and lemon juice. Never buy buttermilk again with this trick! Using a 1-cup measuring cup, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar. Fill the remainder of the cup with plain milk. Let it sit for five minutes and you have DIY buttermilk that will always get the job done! (via Jane Maynard ) 2. Bring eggs to room temperature in five minutes with a bowl of warm water. There is nothing more frustrating than getting halfway through a recipe only to discover your refrigerated eggs are supposed to be room temperature. If you forget to take the eggs out an hour before cooking (Really, does anyone remember?), just put the eggs in a bowl of hot water for 5 to 10 minutes and you're good to go! (via Eat the Love ) 3. Make your own (gluten-free!) oat flour with oats and a blender. If you're looking for a great gluten-free flour option that you can make yourself (or just a totally amazing-tasting flour!), oat flour is for you. And the ...