Here’s a hot tip for ya: If you don’t have a bundt cake pan, you can actually create one. I just read how to do this in www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com. The thought had never occurred to me that I could come up with a very doable, very inexpensive alternative.

Jillee calls this a “fake bundt pan.” All you do is just grease up the exterior of a mason jar, and place it in the center of a springform pan. Pour your batter into the pan and the mason jar will create a hole in the center, just like a bundt pan! (Who knew?)

And here’s another hot tip, related to my garlic-keeper article. This is a clever garlic peeling hack: You can keep your fingers clean by peeling your garlic cloves inside a mason jar. Just drop your garlic cloves into a mason jar, screw the lid on, then shake the jar hard for about a minute. Remove the loose skins, and repeat, if necessary, until all the cloves are peeled! Very slick, and no stinky fingers in the mix.

One more smart idea—how to store a cut avocado. Keeping an unused half of an avocado fresh is a tricky business. Jillee reports that one way to do it is to put your avocado half into a small, airtight container along with a small chunk of onion.

The sulphur compounds released from the onion help to preserve the avocado, and you can keep it fresh for a few days this way. (Jillee says she hasn’t noticed any lingering onion scent or taste in the avocado itself, but if you’re really sensitive to onions, you may want to steer clear.)

Finally, here’s a great idea for squeezing every last drop of juice out of your lemons. This is especially a great tip for those of us who struggle with arthritis. Jillee suggests we use a pair of kitchen tongs!

First, squeeze out all the juice you can with just your hands, then clamp the lemon half with your tongs. With a little bit of elbow grease, you’ll get those last few drops – no problem!

I’ll close with an invitation: if you have any smart ideas for improving how we approach our kitchen work, we’d love to hear from you. Cook’n readers are not just excellent cooks, you’re savvy too boot. Please share!