Using Your Noodle For Perfect Pasta Every Time

I've always had two problems while cooking pasta.  The first one is that the pot in which I chose to boil the pasta always seems to want to boil over.  And secondly, the pasta always sticks together making it difficult to eat properly.  So, I went on a trip of discovery to learn how to solve those two small but irritating problems and I found my answers.  Here they are:

1)  Preventing Boil overs... I don't know why this works I only know that it does.
*  To prevent boil overs simply lay a large spoon or spatula across the top of the pot.  This prevents not only boil overs but splashing as well.

2)  Perfect Pasta Every Time...
*  Bring salted water to a boil, stir in your pasta and then cover the pot.  Now, turn off the heat and let it stand for approximately 15 minutes or until tender.
*  When the pasta is cooked to your liking run it under hot - not cold - water before you drain it.  This will prevent stickiness.
*  If pasta is to be used in a dish that requires further cooking, such as lasagna, reduce the cooking time by one third (15 minutes now becomes 10 minutes.)
*  If you're not going to serve spaghetti immediately, you can leave it in hot water and cool is slowly by adding ice cubes or cold water to stop the cooking process.  Reheat the spaghetti by running it under hot tap water in the strainer while shaking it vigorously.

And that's the name of that tune.  Now, go cook something.  The kids are getting hungry.

Steve and Kim