A Little Bit of Magic

As someone who has been cooking nearly her entire life, there are a few tricks that I've found over time, through colleagues, by researching.

One of the coolest tricks (and this is gonna sound silly to some) is the raisin trick. Now, most of the time, raisins are kinda nasty in baked goods. They are hard and dry and tough to chew, have a bitter taste, and this is all because they have over cooked in the oven. An easy way to fix this is to soak your raisins before adding them to whatever you are making. If you have the time, soak them in room temperature water. However, if you are impatient to get things rocking and rolling like me, then you want to soak them in hot water. They will be re-hydrated in a flash and look almost like their former incarnation, the grape. They will add additional moisture to your finished product, as well as refusing to give up their sweet deliciousness to the oven's heat.