19. KEEP YOUR KNIVES SHARP
Serious Eats Sweets Site Editor Carrie says that sharp knives are her jam. Having sharp knives is not only safer (your knife is less likely to slip off a vegetable and into your finger), but it just makes cooking so much more pleasurable when you can fly through your slicing, dicing, and chopping tasks.
For most home cooks, sharpening should be done once or twice a year. If you're up for the task, you can get yourself some stones and do it yourself, though most folks will opt to take their knives to a professional. Whatever you do, don't use those awful electric grinding machines which will strip off far more metal than is necessary, wearing your knife down and shortening its useful lifespan.
Even with a sharp knife, you'll want to hone the blade by stroking it across a steel to align any microscopic dings and bends before each use.
Check out this post for details on how to sharpen a knife, and this one for information on how to hone it.
22. STORE GREENS AND HERBS WITH A DAMP PAPER TOWEL
Don't you hate it when you open up the vegetable drawer and spot that plastic produce bag at the bottom that's filled with green slime that used to be herbs? You can extend the lifespan of washed herbs and greens by several days by rolling them up in damp paper towels and placing them in zipper-lock bags with the seals left slightly open.
The paper towels will even give you a built-in freshness indicator. At the first hint of decay, you'll see darker spots of liquid forming on the paper towels. This is a good sign that you should use up your herbs and greens within a day or two.
For chopped or picked herbs, store them in a small deli container with a folded up damp paper towel on top of them.