I’m on a small personal mission to learn a few cooking basics. My main motivation is two-fold. I want to cook tastier food because well, it’s tastier and also because due to our wonderful economy we’re eating at home a lot more often. But I also want to spend less time cooking and I figure learning how to do the basics better can help me do that. So this is one in the series of posts I’m hoping to do here with links to great tips about cooking basics.

Simply Recipes : How to caramelize onions . (I LOVE caramelized onions and have rarely managed to do this well at home.)

Speaking of onions, I hate cutting them, so I found some great tips here:

Pinch My Salt: How to cut onions with fewer tears (and with proper technique).

Barefoot Contessa : How to bake bacon in the oven .

Reluctant Gourmet : How to pan roast (meat, fish, or anything else you want).