• To clean vegetable skins, consider using a rectangular plastic scrubbing pad instead of a vegetable brush. The brush can splatter dirty water while you're scrubbing. But using a plastic scrubber pad lets you hold
  the pad close to the vegetables, keeping the splatters down.

• If you're already boiling potatoes to mash for dinner, you can easily increase the quantity by adding some instant potato flakes to the cooking water before you start mashing.

• You can make cookie dough in a big batch and it will keep in the fridge for several weeks. Then it's simple to bake a small batch of cookies by spooning some dough onto a baking sheet and topping it with chocolate chips. If you use olive oil for the shortening, your cookies will have no trans fats. Cooking fudge in bulk works well, too, especially if you make the fudge to give as a holiday gift.
  
  
• To bake a wonderful loaf of homemade bread, whether regular or
  gluten-free, first "bloom the yeast" before adding It to the other
  ingredients. Also, for the bread recipe, use water without chlorine. If you
  don't have a filter for your tap water, then use bottled water.
  (Thanks to Ron T. for these bread-baking tips!)

CINDY'S COOKIE RECIPE

1 18-oz. package of Devil's Food cake mix with pudding
half cup of vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 cup of chocolate chips (optional)

In a large bowl, add all ingredients and mix well with a large spoon until all cake flour is dark. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Top each cookie with chocolate chips (if chips are not already in dough). Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees F. Let cool for 10 minutes before eating. (You can store the remaining dough in a covered container and refrigerate for several weeks.)

CINDY'S FUDGE RECIPE -- Big Batch

2 cups of evaporated milk (soy milk also works)
6 tablespoons regular butter or margarine
5 cups granulated white sugar
1.5 tsp. salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
6 cups small marshmallows
4.5 cups semi-sweet chocolate morsels
(1.5 cups chopped nuts -- optional)

Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan. Pour marshmallows, chocolate morsels (and nuts) in a large holding bowl. In a large saucepan, combine evaporated milk, butter, sugar and salt over medium heat. Stir frequently. Bring to a rolling boil and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Don't undercook. Take saucepan off heat. Add in vanilla. Stir contents of the holding bowl into the saucepan. Mix well until all ingredients blend. If marshmallows don't fully melt, put the saucepan back on the burner on low until the marshmallows melt completely. Pour immediately into the greased pan, spreading the mixture evenly. Cool it in two stages: first keep the pan at room temperature until it's just barely warm, then cover the pan with foil and refrigerate until firm. (The fudge keeps well if covered inside the fridge. Before cutting the fudge, set out the pan at room temperature for a few minutes.)