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Be sure to read a recipe all the way through before you cook. The time it saves you in the long run is invaluable.

Once you have mastered a technique, you hardly need look at a recipe again and can take off on your own.

A big thing that gets people in trouble in the kitchen is not reading the recipe from start to finish before you cook it. Before you start anything, read through the entire recipe once.

The first time you make something, follow the recipe, then figure out how to tailor it to your own tastes.

You don't have to stick with these recipes. They're guides. As I say, they're a way in. Have fun with them. It's an easier way to cook in a busy life, once you get the hang of it.

Don't be afraid to adapt new ingredients into your own techniques, and traditional ingredients into new recipes.

I never really cook from recipes. But the worst is when something turns out great and I can't figure out how to make it again!

For me, whether it's in a book or on T.V., a recipe has to be simple. I have a short attention span, so to open a cookbook and see a recipe that goes on for three to four pages, well, I've lost interest.

If I had one piece of advice for people - if they are cooking from the Alinea cookbook, the Betty Crocker cookbook or the back of the box - read through the entire recipe first before reaching for any ingredients, and then read again and execute the directions.

That being said, I often write into recipes techniques I learned in the restaurant kitchen. There are ways of organizing your prep and so on that are immensely useful. Those are woven into all the recipes I do.