3 Kitchen Tricks for the Love-Struck

An ice cream cone is delightfully sweet, but a leaky one is decidedly not. To plug things up, place a mini marshmallow or upside-down Hershey’s Kiss in your cone before loading it up with ice cream, creating a barrier between the melting ice cream and the fragile wafer tip.

Protect your clothing with the homey equivalent of a professional chef’s jacket: Wear a large shirt (that no one minds getting dirty, of course) to get more coverage than an apron could ever provide. Just throw it on, roll up your sleeves, and dive into the kitchen.

What’s more beautiful than lace cups you can eat? Here’s the easiest way to keep them pretty: First, drop 1 tablespoon of batter each onto the centers of 4 small pieces of parchment paper, place them on a pan, and bake. When the cookies come out of the oven, remove one of the parchment squares from the sheet to a plate to cool, leaving the others on the hot pan to keep them warm and pliable. Cool the cookie on a plate to the right consistency for molding (30 to 60 seconds). Lift the parchment square, turn the cookie over, and place it on the bottom of an up-ended ramekin or bowl to shape it. Lift the parchment from the cookie. Repeat steps with the other cookies, and cool them before lifting them off their molds. Snack; swoon.