Mince

There are a lot of kitchen instructions that people who cook a lot just take for granted.  I cook a lot, so I'm often guilty of this.  I recently learned (as I worked with someone else from a recipe card I had written) that not everyone knows that T is tablespoon and t is teaspoon; perhaps I'll cover kitchen abbreviations and conversions someday.  In any case, as you spend more time in kitchens, and experiment more with food and cooking, you will also start to take a lot of things for granted and eventually forget that there was a time when you didn't know them.  I will try to remember that I've also forgotten, and because I'd like this guide to be accessible to everyone, I'll occasionally post tips on how to do those things that any cook should know.  If it sounds too patronizing, understand that is not my goal--it probably just means that you didn't need that particular lesson.  If I get it wrong, let me know.  We're all learning here.

How to mince garlic cloves:
Break a clove of garlic from the bulb.  You can easily do this by holding the bulb in one hand and rolling your thumb against a clove.  If you're starting a new bulb of garlic, you may have to peel off some of the paper first to expose a bulb.

Peel the paper off the individual clove.  There's a knack to it, but once you figure it out, you're set.  It usually helps to work from the bottom of the clove, where the papery skin is thicker.

Use a big, sturdy kitchen knife for this part.  Put the clove on a cutting board, under the side of the blade.  Press down (carefully--after all, knives are made to be sharp, and the palm of your hand is a nasty place to get cut) on the blade using the heel of your palm to crush the garlic clove a little.  You don't have to flatten it--just smoosh it a little.  The picture shows me using a finger, but that's because I only have two hands, and couldn't get a shot of me using my palm while holding the knife and the camera.  Zaphod Beeblebrox might be able to manage, but he's a barely-functional drunk, and not to be trusted with your food.

Slightly smashed.  Unlike Zaphod Beeblebrox.

minced!

Next, chop up your slightly smashed garlic clove into even smaller bits.  I usually go at it from a couple different angles to get all the pieces nice and small, but maybe you want big chunks of garlic.  Who am I to judge?

How To: Grease a pan

This seems like a silly thing to describe, but it took me a little while to figure out the trick.  If someone had told me, I would have had much better early success with pound cake and bread from loaf pans.

I don't use cooking spray.  It's probably because when I was but a wee lad, CFCs were a big concern and ozone depletion was still a hot-button topic.  These days, most spray cans proudly declare themselves CFC-free, but I'm still in the habit of avoiding them.

Besides, it's just one more thing in the cabinet, and we have a small kitchen.

Crisco solid vegetable shortening (or your favorite brand's equivalent) can be used to grease baking dishes, muffin pans, or squealing pigs at the county fair.  You can also use it in a lot of recipes, like pie crust and some cookies.  I like things that can handle lots of jobs.

Here's how to use it to handle the job of greasing a pan.  In this case, we're greasing a baking dish I used for fish, because that's when I thought to take the pictures, but the same principle applies to pretty much anything.

1. Scoop a small dab of shortening out with your fingertips.  "Small" is key here.  If you're greasing individual muffin cups, a raisin-sized glob will get you through two, maybe three of them  (maybe more), especially if you only have to get the bottoms.  Don't worry about not getting enough--you can always go back for more.
2. Smear it around in the bottom of the dish.  I tend to start at an edge, even though I know the middle would make more sense.  It doesn't matter.  Just smear it around the surface.  Like I said, if there's not enough, you can always add more.  But read the next step before you go spooning in handfuls of the stuff.
3. I usually describe the layer of Crisco as "molecule-thick," but I've never measured it to be sure.  The real point is, don't slather on a thick white layer.  Shortening is a lubricant; if your fingers slide easily across the surface, you have enough.  If the surface has dry patches, smear some shortening in that direction. You'd be surprised how much area a little dab will cover.  If you're working with a glass dish, you'll still be able to see through it; things will just look a little more wavy and blurry.  If it's a metal pan, it will look like it has a little sheen, but the color will be unchanged.

You can see the shortening, but more importantly, you can see through it.

Close-up: a nice, even coat, with no globs or dry patches.

Now all you have to do is put something delicious in there, and add heat.