Recipe Station

Here are 5 amazing pieces of advice that we can all learn from. After all, learning doesn't stop when you're out of school.

1. Write your own recipe for success.

“When we go by the book, we lose our ability to adapt, to be creative. Sometimes you will find yourself without an ingredient or two. It will seem like everything is going wrong. If things don't go as expected, make the unexpected work in your favor. Change the name of the dish.” — José Andrés, speaking to the class of 2014 at George Washington University

2. Serve up the best version of yourself.

“As you move off into the world to become whatever successes you're going to become, it's more important to figure out who you are and be it. It is better to be a first-rate version of yourself than a second-rate version of someone else, or a second-rate version of the person that other people want you to be. Like your parents, or a spouse, or a boyfriend or girlfriend. Your life, your life alone. You come in it by yourself and you've got to make those decisions by yourself. Be you first and foremost.” — Alton Brown, speaking to the class of 2010 at the University of Georgia

3. Keep the kitchen — and everything around you — nice and clean .

“Cook with a dirty fryer, and you cook garbage. Start with a clean fryer, and you get something perfect, simple, and poetic. Just like all of cooking, and all of life. Garbage in, garbage out. Truth in, truth out.” — Mario Batali, speaking to the 2005 class at Rutgers University

4. Savor every bite of the simple pleasures.

“Remember that success in life is very simple and very complex. Success in life is to be happy with yourself, with what you are, with what you do. If you love what you do, you never have to go to work. Money for the sake of money doesn't make a person happy, although it may contribute to it a fair amount. Don't forget the simple pleasures of life. For me, it is still sharing a meal or a bottle of wine with friends, the enjoyment of being with families and friends. To share. This is true happiness.” — Jacques Pepin, speaking to the 2010 class at Columbia University School of General Studies

5. Be a good sous chef.

“To become one of the best, you have to work with the best.” — Daniel Boulud, speaking to the December 2013 class at The Culinary Institute of America

Source: Kitchn