Whenever you have guests over for dinner, try to cook as many dishes as possible the day before. You'll have more time with your visitors and the food will taste better, since it has had a chance to season.

You can marinate chicken wings or seafood and then baste while cooking. However, if you let the meat marinate overnight, there will be no need to baste.

Store bacon in the freezer and slice across the meat the equivalent of the number of slices you need. It keeps longer in the freezer and slicing it that way means you won't have to crumble it.

Originally I used powdered ginger but now I use fresh exclusively. Buy the root from the produce section and store it in the freezer. It will keep longer and be easier to grate.

Bread takes about three hours of elapsed time to bake. The actual work is minimal. I have even left the house during the time the dough was initially rising.

There are more helpful hints in The "Read My Lips" Cookbook