5 More Reasons to Raid the Office Supply Closet

Those big binder clips can do more than just clamp onto a stack of scary spreadsheets. They’re also for those occasions when you make a cheesecake, realize there’s an ugly crack on its surface, and silently (or not-so) suffer from baker’s panic. For these moments, make things pretty again by removing the sides of a springform pan while the cheesecake is warm, wrapping the cake snugly with a wide (and fabulous) ribbon, securing it all with a binder clip, and leaving the ribbon in place until the cake has cooled completely.

If you have difficulty separating eggs, take a couple of thick, sproingy rubber bands and tie them around the handle of a large slotted spoon for a makeshift egg-separating helper. Set the spoon over a small bowl by resting the tip of the spoon and the rubber-banded end on opposite edges of the bowl; crack each egg over the spoon, and watch the whites slip through the holes into the bowl while the yolk stays in the spoon.

Nothing is quite as exasperating as just-rolled-out dough that stubbornly refuses to unstick from its surface. Instead of blanketing the whole thing in flour, which can make the dough tough, slide a metal ruler under the dough every 30 seconds or so. This way the dough never has a chance to stick, and it won’t tear when you need to move it. And there you have it—a tip that measures up. (See what we did there?)

There’s more to paperclips than mindlessly hooking them together to make super cool ever-growing metal chains and, um, clipping papers together. You can also use the wiry guys to pit cherries in a pinch. Unfold one end of a clean, large metal paperclip to create an elongated S-shape, stick one end of the S into the stem end of the cherry, hook it around the pit, and flick the pit out.

We don’t like to kvetch, but the sharp, stiff metal spouts on boxes of kosher salt or dishwasher soap powder can be a royal pain to open at times (emphasis on the pain, especially if one’s nail gets stuck or broken). But good thing you have a couple extra rolls of tape stashed away. Just attach a small piece of Scotch or masking tape to the tip of the pouring spout—the tape becomes a pull-tab that’s easy to grasp.