Today is Tip Wednesday (really?) and for today I offer a simple, forever-useful tip I learned from my friend Shirley Corriher, author of BakeWise.

Need to crack an egg? Are you doomed to the world of shattered egg shells?

To crack an egg like photographed in the above photo, hit the egg on a flat surface, not on the edge of a bowl, nor on the edge of the countertop. When cracked this way the egg opens beautifully, often with a straight-edged crack. This makes seperating eggs easier and opening the egg much easier as well. When hit on a pointed surface, or edge of something, the egg shell crushes making opening the egg a bit of a challenge. This is when you usually end up with egg shell in your food.

Yesterday evening, I was setting up a recipe test for a batch of oatmeal muffins (to bake this morning). I needed two egg whites. I hit the first egg on the flat counter and because of the nice straight edge I then seperated the egg with no trouble. The second egg I accidentally hit on the edge of the counter (old habits die hard) and ended up with both thumbs inside the egg’s shell before I got it opened. Then when I did finally crack the egg open I promptly put the whites down the drain and threw my seperated yolk in the cup. WRONG. I got so distracted by the crushed egg I did the wrong thing – I needed the white not the yolk. Oh well, such a simple tip but it makes all the difference in the kitchen. And maybe next week I’ll get my tip posted on Tuesday.

PS: I’ve enlisted the best male cook I know in helping me remember what we ate last Thursday. He snarfs down the leftovers so fast we don’t even have those around to help jog our memory.