Over the years, I saw the same time wasting activities over and over again and how it affected student lab performance. I created this slideshow this year while preparing students to get into the lab: lab planning, mise en place, equipment choice, measuring, mixing, cooking, serving, and cleaning are hot topics. Many students will never take the labs seriously, but going over the rubric and these essentials can help explain to students why they are assessed the way I assess students. I write not