Smith & Cross is a solid overproof option, while Appleton 12, with its notes of nutmeg, orange peel, and vanilla, is the bottle you'll find in every home in Jamaica (the Miss Lily's staff recommends trying it in a Manhattan).. Get the Recipe: Black Manhattan.

Rubbermaid Brilliance glass food storage container.Others recommend perforated.

ceramic baskets.for keeping berries fresh.Whichever material you choose, each chef is clear: Only store unwashed berries.. Chef-Approved Berry Storage Containers.

Rubbermaid Brilliance Glass Food Storage Containers, Set of 4. , $38, originally $43.Onemore Ceramic Berry Basket, Set of 2. , $28, originally $30.

Wide-Mouth Mason Jars, 5-Pack.

Professional chefs warn against washing your berries before storing them in the refrigerator."My dad was always saying, 'It's a hard life.'".

Before landing on cooking, she contemplated becoming an optometrist, physical therapist, orthopedic surgeon, and accountant."I tried to fight it as best as I could, not to be a chef," she says.

But she was cooking all the time.. "My sister just told me, 'Face your destiny,'" she says."And then I did.