Trying to figure out what to do with your life at any age can be overwhelming, stressful and exciting. I thought that at 24 years old I would have a good idea which direction I wanted my life to go, but that wasn’t the case. There’s no question that I’ve accomplished things I’m proud of, including earning a Congressional Award Gold Medal, publishing a book and managing a couple of blogs, but there was still that nagging question, “ What do I do with my life?” Ultimately I realized my path involved food—and more than just eating it.

Many people believe that to find success in the food industry, you need to start working in kitchens by the age of 18. At ICE, we’ve helped students from the ages of 17 to 70 discover their road to culinary success. Among those graduates is Culinary Arts alum Paras Shah, the executive chef at Kat & Theo in New York City’s Flatiron District.

While some ICE students have never set foot in a professional kitchen before coming to culinary school, others are looking to take their career to the next level. Take Culinary Arts student Peter Martinez, who had already held the title of executive chef at a small restaurant before enrolling at ICE.

It used to be that once you entered the workforce, you stayed with the same company for 30-40 years, and then you retired. But for the generation entering the workforce today, exploring a wide range of career options is far more attractive than staying on one set path from the start. The ability to develop more than one skill set or area of expertise over the course of her career was what attracted Chef Sarah Chaminade to the culinary industry.

As a culinary school student, I spend most of my weeknights catching up on laundry, going to the gym or making dinner plans with friends. Last month, when ICE Chef Instructor Jenny McCoy approached my classmates and I in our sunny student lounge, my Wednesday night plans got a significant upgrade.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve shared lists of my favorite ingredient-focused and vegetable-centric cookbooks, but what kind of pastry chef would I be if I didn’t provide a list of dessert cookbooks? Having authored two cookbooks— Desserts for Every Season and Modern Eclairs—I’m fairly opinionated about what I’m looking for in a great pastry book. From beautiful photos and essential techniques to foolproof recipes, the following texts are among the dog-eared classics I return to time and time again.

When it comes to hospitality, ICE Culinary Management Instructor Kate Edwards ranks among the industry’s most respected service experts. With a resume that includes stints at Keith McNally’s Balthazar bistro and Thomas Keller’s fine-dining mecca, Per Se, Kate has long worked with the food industry’s finest.

This Valentine’s Day, you can do better than chocolate-dipped strawberries. Impress your sweetheart with a foolproof recipe for romance: a heart-shaped pastry that’s easier to make than it looks. At ICE, we've teamed up with People magazine to reinvent the palmier—or “elephant ear”—with homemade pink sugar for an extra DIY twist.

Preserving seasonal produce is one of the world's oldest culinary traditions. Growing up down South, the end of summer meant two things: the start of football season and time to start “puttin’ up.”

From an outside perspective, a hotel may simply appear to be a place to spend the night, but for those of us in the hospitality industry, a hotel is a well-oiled machine, dependent on the efficient operation of every gear and screw. At ICE, as hospitality management students, we’re fortunate enough to experience the inner workings of hotels through guest speakers who are actively working in the hotel industry.