Pop quiz: what ingredient do you use most often?  Onions?  Pasta?  Salt?  I have a feeling it’s probably oil; olive, peanut, take your pick.  There is rarely a recipe in one’s repertoire that doesn’t pair heat with oil (I suppose baking is the most notable excepting with butter taking the crown).  Oh, oil, how we love you.

Working with cooking oil isn’t a particularly complex area of the cooking process.  Sautéing, roasting; it’s all just lubrication with a subtle touch of taste.  I do feel a little constrained at times when I want to do something with finer control.  Ever see those purtty photographs of soup with the broken circle of oil on top?  Or maybe you just want to throw some veggies on a baking pan, coat them a little and roast.  I have a difficult time getting an even spread with the bottle it comes in (especially if it’s a large one), so I moved my olive oil to a squeeze bottle.  The smaller spout and squeeze-ness (technical term, for reals) allows me much more control.

I used a frosting bottle leftover from a Drop In & Decorate event I hosted, but any kind would work; one of those condiment bottles you’d find at most restaurants, for example.  Just be sure there’s a tight seal or you’ll find yourself with an oily mess.  Of course, there’s also dressing bottles, but I prefer to use that just for my really good olive oil.