Running your hands under cold water before making crispy rice cereal treats helps keep the marshmallows from sticking to the fingers. Placing a few ounces of lemon juice and water in a cup and heating in the microwave will remove the smell of burned popcorn from the microwave. Both hands will be free. If you drop an egg on the floor, cover it with salt and leave it alone for a couple of minutes. When you come back, you'll be able to easily clean the mess with a paper towel.
Parchment paper is one of the best mess saving devices ever.
You can make clean up a snap when measuring shortening by lining the measuring cup with plastic wrap first. The shortening will slip right out and there's no need to wash the cup. To make deviled eggs with no mess put eggs yolks from hard boiled eggs in plastic sandwich bag. Add remaining ingredients, close bag and mix. When finished cut small tip off corner of bag and squeeze into hollowed egg white, then simply throw away the bag.