A good cheese board should contain a variety of textures and flavors, ranging from hard and sharp to soft and mild. These options might include sharp cheddar or gouda on the firmer end, and brie or fresh mozzarella on the softer side.

There is an art to arranging a cheeseboard, however, and it starts with slicing your medium-to-hard cheeses evenly. Anyone who has sliced a fair amount of cheese knows this task is easier said than done.

So, how do you ensure your slices are uniform? You don’t need any special tools — just a regular fork.

The Tine Technique

Unwrap your cheese and place it on a cutting board in front of you. Hold your fork horizontally, extending it away from you with the tines facing outward. Then, lower the fork so the flat back of the tines rests against the top of the cheese block, with the tips of the tines hanging just over the edge of the cheese. Gently press the tines into the surface to create a row of uniform indentations. Repeat this motion across the length of the block. These marks serve as the guide for your knife. By following the notches, you can ensure perfectly even slices every time. Your cheeseboard will look more professional and you won’t end up with varying widths of aged cheddar.

To Slice or Not To Slice

You don’t have to preslice cheese for your guests. It’s acceptable to leave the cheese as-is and provide cheese knives so guests can serve themselves. However, if you’re looking to stretch your cheese to feed a larger crowd, preslicing is the way to go. Additionally, providing a dedicated knife for every type of cheese can prove cumbersome, as it often results in a cluttered board with too many tools.

Indeed, sparkling wines have long been synonymous with celebration. In their early days, these wines were accessible only to the upper classes, and they still carry an air of sophistication today. Fortunately, contemporary production methods have made sparkling wine more affordable and widely available. Thanks to marketing efforts over the years, many people now buy sparkling wine to mark a special occasion (or even christen a boat).

There’s an old joke that there’s no need to worry about storing sparkling wine because it’s always consumed in one sitting. And while it’s certainly tempting to polish off the bottle, that isn’t always feasible. If you don’t have a Champagne stopper on hand, how can you keep the fizz from falling flat?

That’s a Wrap

There’s a little-known solution for this problem, and it involves two items you probably already have in your kitchen drawer: plastic wrap and a rubber band. Here’s what to do: Cut a piece of plastic wrap, place it over the bottle’s opening, pull it taut, and secure it tightly with a rubber band. It may sound simple, but it works surprisingly well to keep the carbonation trapped inside.

Tips and Tricks

For the best results, use a large sheet of plastic wrap folded into three or four layers. Once you place it over the opening, use a spoon to push the plastic wrap down into the neck of the bottle, then secure it tightly with a rubber band. This creates an airtight seal and reduces the amount of empty space inside the bottle, which slows the loss of carbonation.

Whether you use this method or a traditional Champagne stopper, aim to consume the sparkling wine within two to three days. Once the bottle is uncorked, there’s no way to completely stop the gradual loss of carbonation, so enjoy those bubbles as soon as you’re able.

But what if you’re fresh out of that baking ingredient and dealing with a stomach-churning stench creeping into your kitchen? There’s an unexpected pantry staple that can help you get a handle on fridge funk — and it’s a brilliant way to give a second life to an item you might otherwise toss out.

The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

White bread can act as a quick, temporary fix for lingering scents. Its porous texture physically absorbs odor molecules, although it doesn’t chemically neutralize them like baking soda does. The best part? You don’t have to waste a perfectly good slice of bread you’d use in a tasty sandwich. Instead, just repurpose those crusty ends that so often get thrown away.

You may be asking: Why white bread? While other varieties, such as rye or sourdough, are also porous, they often have a pungent aroma of their own that can make matters worse. White bread also tends to be fluffy rather than dense, meaning it’s full of tiny air pockets that act as a trap for wandering odor molecules. It’s best to use a fresh loaf for this hack — stale, dried-out slices aren’t as absorbent.

How To Freshen Your Fridge

For this hack, you’ll need two bread heels, distilled white vinegar, and a shallow, wide-mouthed container. Place the two slices side-by-side in the same container; if the odor is coming from multiple areas, use separate containers for each. Next, pour a tablespoon of vinegar over the bread and leave the open container in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours. It’s important to remove the bread within 24 hours to prevent mold growth and potential contamination.

During this time, the bread will trap any fetid stenches, whether from wilting vegetables, week-old leftovers, or other stinky foodstuffs. When you wake up in the morning, open the fridge — the offending smells should be gone, or at the very least, significantly improved. Should any lingering odors remain, replace the bread and vinegar, and repeat the process as needed until those nasty odors vanish altogether.

Home bakers and professionals often rely on flour sifters for uniform coverage when sprinkling powdered sugar. But we think another tool works even better: a snap-ball tea infuser.

Get Better Control With a Tea Steeper

Tea steepers (also called infusers or strainers) feature uniformly spaced holes that dispense powdered sugar evenly. Because they’re much smaller than flour sifters, they also offer more control over application.

All you have to do is fill one half of a snap-ball infuser (or any similar tool made of mesh or perforated metal) with a spoonful of powdered sugar, close it, and gently dust your baked goods. This trick also works well for lightly flouring surfaces, coating proteins in cornstarch, or dusting sourdough loaves with rice flour before scoring.

Your Next-Best Sifter? An Empty Spice Jar

If you don’t have a tea steeper, you can use an empty spice jar to sift sugar, flour, cornstarch, rice flour, and other powdery ingredients. This works best with spice jars featuring small, evenly spaced holes rather than the larger openings used for chili flakes and other whole spices. Start by cleaning the jar thoroughly with hot water and dish soap — or run it through the dishwasher for fuss-free cleaning. Let it dry completely before adding your desired ingredient. Once it’s filled, snap the lid into place and give it a gentle shake to dust your baked good.

If you’re in a real bind, a fine-mesh strainer also works to top desserts with powdered sugar. It isn’t as precise, but it beats using a spoon or your fingers.

However, you might not be using them to their full potential. The next time you open a can of chickpeas, pause before pouring off the liquid and rinsing the beans. That thick, starchy brine, known as aquafaba, is a useful ingredient in its own right. While vegans have long used aquafaba as a reliable egg substitute for baking, you don’t need to follow a plant-based diet to benefit from it. It comes “free” with your can of chickpeas, after all, and can help you offset the cost of eggs. So, why not use it in your next baking project?

A Quick Aquafaba Primer

Why is this liquid so useful? Its thick consistency comes from the starches and soluble fibers released by the chickpeas during the cooking and canning process. Those dissolved starches make aquafaba a useful binder in dishes such as meatloaf or hamburgers, where you would otherwise use an egg. However, aquafaba has a couple of key advantages over other egg substitutes like ground flaxseed: It has a neutral flavor, and it can be whipped into a light, fluffy foam, just like egg whites.

Here are a few ideas on how to use aquafaba at home, whether you’re dabbling in veganism or just a frugal and adventurous cook:

• Make eggless meringue, either for meringue cookies or to top a pie, without having to discard a bunch of yolks.

• Bake light and fluffy cakes without eggs.

• Use aquafaba as a light thickener in soups.

• Swap aquafaba for beaten egg whites in foamy cocktails and other beverages (and avoid the potential salmonella risk).

• Fold whipped aquafaba into anything from muffins to pancakes and waffles to make them lighter and fluffier.

If you aren’t careful, you’ll find yourself needing new recipes to use up the chickpeas left over from your aquafaba. It’s a good problem to have, though; chickpeas are a healthy, filling way to add protein and fiber to your diet.