Simple Cooking Tips

Grandma's simple cooking tips really come in handy when using the old fashioned dessert recipes featured on this site. The historical recipes are shown exactly as first published, and sometimes you might need a little help to get the results wanted.

Grandma's Simple Cooking Tips

Reading Tips for the Kitchen and Cooking on a LaptopGet Grandma's Practical Hints for the Kitchen and Cooking
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Grandma's Kitchen Secrets

Grandma's Simple Cooking Tips

Old Fashioned Cast Iron Kitchen Cook StoveThe Old Kitchen Stove
(Source: ©Don Bell)

Old fashioned dessert recipes sometimes contain outdated measurement terms such as gill, salt-spoon, grain, and wineglass, making the quantities called for unclear.

And because most kitchen wood stoves of Grandma's day didn't have temperature gauges, some of the baking recipes didn't provide accurate oven temperatures and cooking times.

So, I've gathered a collection of helpful tips to address the shortcomings of the old fashioned cooking recipes along with some practical cooking methods to make your kitchen and baking chores easier.

Get Recipe Nutritional Information

Mother Showing Daughter How to Make CookiesMother Sharing Basic Cooking Tips with Daughter
(Source: ©hongqi-zhang/123RF.com)

Old fashioned dessert recipes rarely contained nutritional info, but you can easily visit the HappyForks website to get a free nutritional analysis and downloadable Nutrition Label for your recipe.

Just copy and paste your ingredient list into the online Recipe Analyzer and select the approximate number of servings.

However, whenever old fashioned dessert recipes are written in paragraph form, you will need to estimate the servings needed and rewrite the ingredients as a list.

For example:

2 cups cake flour, 4 teaspoons baking powder, and 2 tablespoons butter becomes...

2 cups cake flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons butter

Simply follow the editing instructions for any ingredients and measurements not recognized. It's easy to do. For instance, you might need to indicate the type of eggs needed.

Editing the Recipe IngredientsIndicate the Type of Eggs Called For in the Recipe

Once you've entered all the ingredients and the number of servings, you'll see the calorie count for each ingredient.

Cupcake Recipe Ingredients Input and CaloriesCupcake Recipe Ingredients Input and Calories

Finally, view and download a Nutrition Facts Label should you wish to save the results. For instance, below is the analysis of the Zesty Orange Cupcake Recipe that's found on the Homemade Cupcake Recipes page.

Nutrition Facts LabelNutrition Facts Label

About the Simple Cooking Tips

Lady Reading Cooking Hints and Tips on Her Laptop ComputerEnjoy Grandma's Practical Cooking Hints
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In this collection of simple cooking tips you'll find weights and measures conversion tables, suggested oven temperatures, recipe ingredient substitutions, and a collection of Grandma's helpful cooking secrets.

There's also step-by-step instructions for opening a coconut in seconds, and information on how to safely use raw eggs in recipes.

Some of the simple cooking tips are from a bygone era, yet they are fun to read, and you never know when you might find a practical use for them.

There really is something for everyone, and more tips are being added as I find them, so be sure to bookmark this page for later.

Kitchen Baking Pans and Molds from 1887Historical Kitchen Baking Pans and Molds
(Source: Royal Baker Pastry Cook 1887)
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