A Few Random Tips for the Casual Baker

1. Do not over-cook pie fillings, especially those with corn starch used as the thickener. The filling will break down and quickly become watery. Over cooking fillings made with flour will cause the filling to be thick.
2. Bread always too hard and heavy? Breads made from scratch or from a mix must have an internal temperature of about 80 degrees for the yeast to work properly. Cold dough will not expand properly. Make sure the bread rises in a warm, draft-free environment.
3. When making chocolate chip cookies, Drop your cookies extra thick (use an ice cream scoop), flatten the top a little, then place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator   for twenty minutes. Take the sheet from the refrigerator and bake at 375 degrees until the cookie's edges are slightly brown and you will have a soft-centered finished product.
4. In a pinch, you can make your own brown sugar.  Cream with a spoon or mix with a fork 1 cup granulated sugar and 1-2 Tablespoons molasses until the sugar can be packed in a cup and measured like brown sugar.  
5. For better texture, try substituting buttermilk for regular milk in your cake recipe. For each cup of buttermilk used, add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to the dry ingredients.