lets post all our tips an tricks here. hopefully someone will make this a sticky. heres my first contribution;

butter, ever notice on all the cooking shows that the chef always has his/her butter in a bowl on the counter ready to go? that isn't just for convenience. butter loses about 80 percent of its flavor when used while cold. wether ur cooking or just buttering toast, butter taste way more 'buttery' when used at room tempeture.