I often say that eggs and sugar should be beaten until they thicken and pale and sometimes, when there are lots of yolks, that's lemon colored.

I use color as my chief guide. But I always squeeze an avocado - you want the fruit to feel close to the skin. If you can feel a separation, the avocado is past its prime. The avocado should have a little give, but not much.

Whenever you brown butter, some of it is lost - water evaporates, milk solids fall to the bottom of the pan, that kind of thing. It's possible that in browning the butter you ended up making the dough with too little butter.

There are so many reasons to cook and bake. Yes, good food is certainly one of them, but so is the sense of satisfaction you get when you make something with your own hands, when you know that you can take care of yourself and feed yourself well and when you know that you can take care of and feed others.

Do the work you are most proud of

I don't know if there's a method that I'd like to see younger people bring back, I just want to see everyone of every age in the kitchen.

Adam Roberts is an original: smart, funny, talented, endlessly inquisitive, an A student and, happily for us, an A+ teacher. Everyone from beginner cooks to sure hands will learn something new on each page. And even if, like Adam's mom's, your stove stores shoes and handbags, you'll still be charmed by Secrets-it's a great read.