Do your omelets come out rubbery? Try our simple solution.

While I have experimented with different butters in baking, I'm not sure that I'd want to participate in a butter taste test - particularly not when one of the tastings involves eating butters plain to "experience their melting properties directly on the tongue." That being said, I do appreciate the efforts of the tasters from Cooks Illustrated who participated in a premium butter tasting, eating butter both plain and on baguettes to try to pick out the top butter.

The butters tested all had butterfat contents of at least 82%, higher than the standard 80%, with the exception of Land O'Lakes, which was included as a benchmark. Every single butter tested - seven unsalted and six salted - were recommended including the non-premium benchmark butter, so it sounds like you can't go wrong by choosing a name-brand butter or a butter that is "european-style." The butters were ultimately ranked by preference, but not one was a loser:

Unsalted:

• Land O'Lakes Ultra Creamy butter
• Presidente Unsalted butter
• Celles Sur Belle Premium Churn
• Land O'Lakes Unsalted Sweet butter (benchmark)
• Organic Valley European-style butter
• Plugra European-style butter
• Jana Valley Imported Sweet Cream Butter

It has been several years since the lever corkscrew design first catapulted to popularity, going from a gadget that was almost strictly for big wine drinkers to a staple in any home that also has a bottle or two of red. The style was popularized by the Metrokane Rabbit corkscrew, but there are any number of similarly designed openers available today. The last time that Cook's Illustrated put these openers to the test was about 9 years ago and in their most recent issue, they decided that it was time to revisit them and see how some of the more expensive brands stacked up to some of the less expensive newcomers.

Their "ultimate opener" was the Screwpull Trigger from Le Creuset, which has a unique mechanism that adds an extra grip to the cork, ensuring a fast and clean uncorking. But out of the 13 models, 12 made a respectable showing, so CI's conclusion seems to be that you will do fine with almost any lever-style wine opener. Their advice, if you're not going for their "ultimate" model, is to try to select openers with longer handles, which will make removing the corks easier.

Apple cider vinegar is a by-product of fermented apple (hard) cider, once one of the most popular and widely available alcoholic drinks in the US. Vinegar was used for preserving foods and was common in most households, where its sweet/tart flavor found a variety of other uses in sauces and dressings. Cooks Illustrated noticed that most people tend to reach for the store brand of cider vinegar - which does not get the same amount of shelf space as trendier balsamic vinegar does - and conducted a taste test in this month's issue to see if the brand made a difference.

The vinegars were tasted plain, in barbecue sauce, in pan sauce and in a vinaigrette. Tasters tended to prefer the vinegars with a sweeter, almost honeyed taste. The top two brands were Maille Apple Cider Vinegar and Spectrum Naturals Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (unfiltered), but even very common and inexpensive brands like White House and Heinz were found to be acceptable. So while there is a difference between brands, it probably won't make or break your dish.

And as a general tip, apple ciders with little apple bits still floating in them (unfiltered vinegars) tend to be a bit sweeter, with a bit more of an apple flavor than ones that are completely clear.