Kitchen tips

Even if keeping up on dishes and other kitchen cleanup tasks is a challenge, it's valuable to have clear counters for any complex or multi-dish cooking, so my first tip for the kitchen is to clear the counters and give yourself as much space to work as possible. Almost any recipe benefits by having space to pull out all the dishes, measuring tools, utensils, and ingredients so that they are ready when needed (and to identify anything that needs to thawed, pre-heated, cleaned, purchased...).

It also helps to measure ingredients in advance, both to have the ingredients handy and to ensure that enough is available or substitutes are found or the recipe size adjusted accordingly. If only a few ingredients are needed, it may be possible to leave them in the measuring dishes. More often, however, small dishes will be needed to hold the measured ingredients. If a number of powdered ingredients or spices are to be used all at once, a bowl for the group may suffice.

Read the whole recipe. Some are well designed for following instructions in sequence, but many will spring surprises on the cook including asking for prepared ingredients without ever mentioning the preparations earlier, chilling for several hours or over night at some intermediate stage (and leaving the cook with a bunch of ingredients not yet needed sitting around), or identifying a need for something like a double boiler on the assumption that the water is already boiling and ready-to-use

Most recipes, however, don't tell all the tools and utensils that are needed, however, so here's a list of words that can give a clue to what's needed:
Basics: a bowl at least twice or three times the size of the largest ingredient unless the ingredients will be combined right in the cooking dish (often true for soups and meats, typically not true for baked dishes). Some sort of mixing or turning tool is common but the nature of the dish and ingredients will determine whether wooden spoon (for stiff mixes), plastic spoons (for more liquid mixes), spatula (for in-pan mixing or turning), metal spoons (for egg white mixes), forks and whisks (for thinner liquid and egg mixes)

Measurements:
liquid cup measurements typically call for a pitcher-like measuring cup or two-cup measurer
dry cup measurements or fractions there-of usually call for level measurerer smaller than or equal to the measurement given, preferably in evenly divisible increments, such as 1/4 cup measurer for 1/4 c. or 3/4 c, but 1/2 cup measurer for 1/2 c, 1 c, or 1 1/2 c. and 1/3 cup measurer for 1/3 c. or 2/3 c. plus a knife for leveling.
moist cup measurements or fractions thereof, such ss brown sugar or shortening, often require additional utensils such as a spoon for pressing or their own knife for cutting and pressing out the air, respectively.
small measurements whether liquid or dry or moist use measuring spoons or--on rare occasion--droppers.

Processes:
Whip, blend, or mix, especially with speeds specified - blender, otherwise spoon or whisk
Stir - spoon
Slice, dice, chop - cutting board(s) and knive(s) or food processor (don't use a blender
Pound - tenderizer or mallet
Peel - paring knife, knife, peeler, mulch bowl
Roll - pastry board and rolling pin (or extra flour and fingers, sometimes)
Pour - bowl or pan with pouring lip, ladle, or pitcher might be applicable, or a second bowl or pan may be needed
Bake baking pans (most recipes will specify a size or range of sizes)
Boil or simmer - a pot and heat-worthy spoon
Fry or saute - a frying pan or saute pan may be appropriate. Size will depend on the amount being cooked and a cooking type spatula (as opposed to a rubber or plastic spatula for scraping the mixing bowl)
Counting numbers of small things, like olives or cocktail onions may call for a fork.

If temperature measurements are specified, a candy or meat thermometer may b useful but there are often other ways to check for appropriate donesness, such as water drop tests for varying stages of candy making such as softball, hardball, and brittle (none of which are apparent while the candy is still hot).