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While sharing a meal with a family, getting yourself a well-deserved treat after a long day, or feasting on simply being alive... feels great! The cooking process has its own pleasures and charm. Especially when keeping in mind some helpful tricks from people online, answering one Redditor’s question: "What’s one cooking tip that is extremely helpful?" to avoid the kitchen situation getting out of control. On the flip side, as brought up by one of the Redditors not being afraid to experiment and mess up one or two meals is a great tip on its own. Finally, those who try to avoid the kitchen altogether for the lack of certain skills may reconsider, as the key to unlocking the magic (and horror) of the cooking world lies in simply starting. Enjoy!

More info: Reddit

#1

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them ALWAYS use real butter, not margarine.

Earthicus , Sorin Gheorghita Report

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Joshua David
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had an ex that LOVED that margarine. I like the Irish butter, but I can't think of the name. So good.

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#2

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them - Boil your rice like pasta to get wonderfully fluffy rice

- Rest your food before eating (meat, casserole, lasagna, pizza, etc)

- A $4 meat thermometer is how you test, not cutting and releasing all the juices

- Understand the Maillard reaction to get flavor into food esp meat

- Under-salt your pasta sauce, over-salt the water when you boil the pasta

- Buy only high-quality oil. Not only for taste/freshness, but higher smoke point

- Fat has been wrongly maligned, save it and use it

- A touch of acidity (lemon juice, dry citric acid, pickle juice, etc) is required in nearly all dishes

- A pinch of cane sugar takes the funkiness out of many sauces

- Pressure cookers turn the cheapest cuts of meat into succulent, tender morsels

- Good food is mostly technique and appropriate seasoning, not expensive ingredients

JewsEatFruit , ThermoPro Report

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Ace
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Best overall post on the whole thread, nothing here to argue with.

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#3

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them Don’t fry naked.

9LivesAndCounting , RDNE Stock project Report

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#4

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them There might be such a thing as "too much garlic", but I haven't found it yet

TheVegetaMonologues , Skitterphoto Report

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Heather Resatz
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As an heirloom garlic farmer, I agree with this wholeheartedly! We put that s#•t in everything!!

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#5

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them The MOST important tip I can give to anyone is to setup all of your ingredients before you even turn the stove on. Also known as 'mise en place' in the culinary world.

Everything. Salts, spices, veggies, proteins. Everything should be on your counter and easy to reach.

It's seriously probably the biggest thing keeping someone from becoming a 'meh' cook into a good one.

Ex. If you want to put chives into your omelet, you obviously dont want to start cutting them when your eggs are already on the pan. You'll overcook your omelet.

Gaming_and_Physics , Ella Olsson Report

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Jeremy James
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Another benefit to "mis en place" is that you won't risk contaminating your spice jars by grabbing them while handling meat.

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#6

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them This isn't a secret or anything, but I think a lot of folks don't realize how important acid is in a lot of cooking. When you've seasoned something perfectly but it still tastes like it's missing something, it's usually acid. A bit of citrus juice or vinegar will take it to the next level.

anon , Pixabay Report

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Deborah B
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When you get lemons, squeeze them all, strain the juice to remove the pips, then measure the juice into ice cube trays. I use 1tbspn measures, but split it into whatever quantity you typically use. Freeze, then transfer to a ziploc bag. The bottles of "lemon Juice" you get at the supermarket never taste like real lemon juice, but frozen does. Don't try to save effort by freezing the lemon juice in a single block - you'll only be frustrated when your recipe calls for 1 tablespoon, and you have to struggle to chip it off. Pre-measured is the way to go.

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#7

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them People who don't know how to cook think cooking is extremely difficult and that you need to rigorously "study" cooking.

Not true. Just follow a few simple recipes to learn the basics. After a couple of tries, you can wing a lot of your cooking.

Username9424 , Andrea Piacquadio Report

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Joshua David
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You're 100% correct. I moved out at 17 and was very poor to start out so I bought my food rather than eat out so I followed recipes and was eating better than any restaurant can make. Soon, I was able to add additional ingredients to make the recipes more to my liking.

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#8

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them Always use cold water to mix with flour or cornstarch to make your gravy. It won't get lumpy. My dad was a chef & he always stressed this. He hated lumpy gravy.

anon , Lisa Fotios Report

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Xenon
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've started using instant mashed potato flakes in some dishes . Guaranteed no lumps.

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#9

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them Courtesy of great-grandma to mom:

To get the smell of garlic off your hands, grab your (stainless steel) faucet like it was your man.

:-D

MattieShoes , Nithin PA Report

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Vic
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It will be a long conversation if my wife catches me doing this.. especially if I get too into in and start talking to the faucet..

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#10

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them **F**k up.**

Burn food. Overseason. Have a pot boil over. Make flatbread on accident. Make soggy latkas. Spice that curry up to lava temps. Just learn from it. Don't be afraid to ruin a meal. Be willing to ruin a meal so it ensures you'll make a better one in the future.

Nobody bakes a flawless souffle the first time. Pretty much everyone will forget to put eggs in brownies once or twice. I'm sure most people have put too much salt in their eggs, or cooked a steak to a brick. Don't let mistakes stop you from learning new things, and don't let the fear of f*****g up a meal prevent you from trying new recipes.

Edit: I don't even know what reddit silver does but thank you kind internet stranger. Keep cooking and making mistakes!

Nedgeh , Krista Report

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ShaZam Beaubien
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Epic fails are the best cooking memories. I once made gravy out of pancake batter because I didn't have flour ... Yep, epic fail.

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#11

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them When using a pan with a handle on a stove top, turn the handle inwards to avoid accidentally walking/knocking into it and causing disaster

sunset_cruiserr , Ketut Subiyanto Report

#12

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them If you’re young learn to cook before you leave home. You should be able to take care of yourself on your own. I knew so many people in college that had no clue how to function, like laundry, cooking and cleaning.

Limp_Distribution , Jason Briscoe Report

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Hugh Cookson
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yup, I taught my step Daughter and 4 of her friends how to shop and cook before they went to 4 different Uni's. They all spent way less than most of their contemporaries.

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#13

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them If you can smell anything bad jn your meat at all. Throw it out.

SLAVA_STRANA541 , Mary Winchester Report

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Carole G.
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you can smell bad meat or fishy smelling fish, shop at a different store.

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#14

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them Think about what you're throwing away. People discard so much when it can be repurposed.

Got a dried out lump of cheese? Make mac and cheese with it. Dont throw it away.

The stem from a head of broccoli, once that gnarly bit at the very end has been removed, is great if finely diced or sliced in soups or stir fries.

Bones and carcass can be made into stock with no effort. Just a bit of salt and water, dont be intimidated by recipes that ask for $20 worth of other stuff.

Pies and stews are great for sad looking veggies and bits of meat that are close to being off.

Even potato skins can be fried into delicious treats. Cold rice is perfect for egg fried rice. Old bread is good for breadcrumbs. Dont have a blender? Grate them instead.

It frustrates me when I see how much good food goes to waste, food that can be re-used and cooked into recipes that even a total amateur can cook.

Also, people need to stop frying food on maximum heat, if your stove dials go to 8 for example, frying an egg should be on 5-6.

PM_ME_YER_TITTAYS , Ronmar Lacamiento Report

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Jeremy James
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have a bag in my freezer for vegetable scraps. When the bag gets full, we make stock. It's nice to always have stock handy, and it tastes better than store-bought.

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#15

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them Wash your hands before preparing ready to eat foods and after handling raw meats, especially chicken.

Henrek , Mélissa Jeanty Report

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Holy Shimmering Sheeps541t
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Or in between items, when I'm doing meat prep I'm always washing them between doing things, especially dry rubbing after a brine.

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#16

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them Residual heat will continue cooking more than you imagine. That hot pan doesn’t stop cooking just because ou turned the stove off, and meat can cook internally as well once already hot.

anon , Yvette S Report

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Nice Beast Ludo
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I do this when I flip over easy eggs. I flip and turn off the stove to cook them perfectly without over cooking

#17

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them Don’t pour water on a grease fire.

Feebs101 , lasse bergqvist Report

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Deborah Rubin
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Always have the lid to the pot by you. And a kitchen fire extinguiser is always handy.

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#18

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them There is no such thing as cooking chicken "rare". Beef and pork have some granularity in how "done" the meat is, but chicken is either "done", "overdone" or "salmonella".

Edit -
Yes, sous vide changes these rules somewhat, and all ground meats should generally be cooked through.

DreadnoughtPoo , Toa Heftiba Report

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Russ Kincade
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Don't depend on what it looks like to determine if it is "done"! My instant read thermometer is an indespensable tool in my kitchen. They are cheap, work great and allow you to cook things to perfection.

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#19

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them If you’re searing a bunch of little things in a pan, like scallops, set them in the pan in a clock-like circular pattern. That way, you’ll be able to easily keep track of where to start flipping, and then you can just move clockwise down the line.

Seems obvious, but I was just haphazardly throwing pieces of meat or seafood in a pan prior to seeing this done on a cooking show.

Purrkinje , RDNE Stock project Report

#21

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them Always scrape the ingredients from the cutting board into a pot with the back of the knife, it will help the blade stay sharp longer

bookmole86 , Brands&People Report

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Hugh Cookson
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Absolute tosh ; Ex Chef here with 35 +years in front of many ovens including 5* and Michelin. Unless your boards are made of glass or marble, a knife will keep its edge on pretty much any other board although I have met many (mostly young) idiot Chefs who think that chopping / carving directly on to a stainless steel worktop won't affect their knives ......... I used to make a decent amount of money sharpening their knives without telling them what to do to stop them being blunt. If they showed promise, I'd tell them, if not, f**k 'em, if they're that thick they deserve to dig ditches for the rest of their lives.

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#22

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them S**t I learned while working in a restaurant:

The quickest way to defrost something is just let a stream of cold water run over it for a bit until it defrosts.

Cool down your hot pans in hot water, not cold water, because it'll f**k up your pans

Throw that pasta water in your pasta sauce and you're golden

If you're going to make a big meal or a dish with a lot of ingredients, do ALL your prep first and then cook otherwise you're going to struggle

Always wash your hands after touching meat

Vegetables always go over meat when you're storing them, not the other way around

Sometimes guessing your ingredients is okay, but it's better to underestimate than overestimate

Clean and wash your dishes as you cook so you have less things to do later.

Edit: I meant pasta sauce, not pasta because it'll thicken your sauce and help your sauce cling to the pasta better.

GideonIsmail , Miriam Alonso Report

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#23

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them Taste, taste, taste. Everytime you add something to your dish, taste it!

Battlecreek Coffee Report

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Jennifer Clark
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My brother once accidentally made peppermint cookies with essential oil instead of peppermint extract. We didn't find out until he had made, cooled and frosted the whole batch because he never lets anyone taste when he's cooking. I couldn't eat peppermint without feeling sick to my stomach for weeks.

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#24

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them Buy and try a lot of spices. it's a cheap and easy way to improve almost anything. salt, pepper, garlic, basil, oregano and smoked paprika are in my opinion a must

tweak0 , Ratul Ghosh Report

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Ace
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Chilli, cloves, cinnamon, anise are all essential parts of Mexican cooking, cumin, coriander, cardamom, turmeric, ginger for West Asian/Indian, 5-spice powder (or just make your own from the Mexican aromatics plus sechuan pepper and fennel seeds) for East Asian/Chinese. I'd add all of these to the above base list of spices.Oh, and don't forget pepper, of course.

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#25

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them I like to spray my measuring spoon with Pam before I scoop up some honey. Comes right off the spoon

atony1984 , Mike Mozart Report

#26

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them Tip for chili: Undercook the onions. Everybody is going to get to know each other in the pot.

leocohen99 , Simona Sergi Report

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Cindy Brick
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Or don't saute the onions at all -- just dump them in with the rest of the chili ingredients. I will even do that with the hamburger. That way, the juice and flavor of the beef goes directly into the chili -- instead of scraped out with the pan. (Add a beef bouillon cube for even more meaty flavor.)

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#27

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them 1/2 a cup of uncooked Rice per person. I always see people mentioning they can never get their portions of rice correct. You either end up with enough to feed a tribe, or barely enough for one meal. 1/2 per person, and every now and then I'll add in an extra 1/2-1 Cup if I'm cooking for a large group.

littlebetenoire , Pille R. Priske Report

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#28

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them When browning ground meat only flip it twice. Flatten it out and cook it till it is half done flip over like a giant burger then cook till done. Crumble it once its cooked. And never again eat gray tasteless ground beef.

Mostlyaverageish , Bernard Tuck Report

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The Veil of Fire
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Um...nope. Gray tasteless ground beef is just under seasoned beef. Break it up as you're fit. Use salt n pepper at the very least as it browns. Best to take it to almost overcooked browing. Letting it crust over. Sometimes I will cook till just done then separate 3/4 or slightly less out of the pan allowing 1/4 to stay and get crusty brown. Add the rest bake in, season and deglaze the pan. The crusty brown adds flavor especially to tacos or sloppy joes.

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#29

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them Wash your rice before cooking it, it will be fluffier. Don’t put olive oil in your boiling water if it’s for pasta, the sauce won’t stick much on the pasta if you do. Olive oil is good for salad but burned it can both taste nasty and be unhealthy. It has a a burning point lower than other oils, therefore will burn more easily. To check if your oil is hot enough to fry, put the tip of a wooden spoon. If small bubbles form, the oil is hot enough. Don’t throw away your vegetables waste while cooking, put them in a bag and then in the freezer. Use it anytime you want to make some vegetable stock. This one is quite know but still great: when baking don’t forget to line your pan with butter then flour. I used to only do butter, my brownie never wanted to come out of the pan. rip all the brownies... 

Pouyce , Pierre Bamin Report

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Lance LaRocque
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Olive oil has a smoke point some where in the middle of the oils, virgin being a little higher than refined. Extra virgin olive oil and a very low smoke point and is commonly used for salads and dips and is not cooked. The extra virgin olive oli is not interchangeable with the other 2.

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#30

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them Oatmeal turns into rock if you leave it out after adding hot water and difficult to wash

anon , Margarita Zueva Report

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Holy Shimmering Sheeps541t
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The amount of times I've been eating porridge at work and been dragged off to do "something urgent" only to come back and find a concrete oat mix in my bowl.

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#31

Folks Didn’t Realize How Helpful These 30 Simple Cooking Tips Can Be Until They Tried Them Ovens are like a cooking hack. Want a good dinner? Take your meat, chicken, pork chop, whatever. As long as it’s not super thin. Put it in a baking pan. Surround it with root vegetables of choice. Potatoes, carrots, onions. Whatever. Season and set oven to 350. Put it in set a timer for 45 min and walk away. You now have a fully cooked dinner with a meat and vegetables. If you want you can leave it for an hour instead to cook it all a bit more. This works for most meat and vegetables and you can make enough food for the week for under $35.

edit: to be a bit clearer you need to use vegetables that can handle an oven. Root vegetables are good for this cause they won’t dry out so fast. Also for the meat you want a thicker cut of meat again so it doesn’t dry out. Chicken wing/legs, Shanks, Roasts all work well. Don’t use this for a strip steak though.

Radthereptile , Alex Lam Report

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TheBlueBitterfly
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This used to just be called... y'know, cooking. Nothing fancy, no expensive appliances or gadgets or doodads.

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