Pastry instructor Rebecca Millican, who is also a 1991 graduate of the school, brings a wealth of experiences to her teaching at ICE. Her impressive resume includes such top spots as the Ryland Inn, perennially voted New Jersey's top restaurant; Lespinasse, the St. Regis Hotel's showplace opened by Gray Kunz; and the New York Times three-star Stage House Restaurant in Scotch Plains, NY. In addition, her elaborate gingerbread showpieces have been featured on Better Homes & Gardens Television, in Country Living Gardener magazine, and most recently on the TV Food Network's "Top 5."

With such an outstanding list of credentials, you might be surprised to learn that prior to enrolling at ICE Chef Millican was a stay-at-home mother of four who satisfied her artistic talents with sewing, quilting and a little baking. All that changed when she entered a church-sponsored bake-off and won first place with a chocolate-mousse pie. More prizes followed, and Millican was ready to take her baking to a new level. "Along with the successes came some failures," remembers Millican. "Enough failures to really make me serious about mastering techniques and learning about the science involved in baking."

After graduating from the pastry program at ICE, Millican externed at the Ryland Inn and stayed on for two years. She spent a year at the St. Regis, two years at the Stage House Restaurant in Scotch Plains, and then returned to the Ryland Inn to start an in-house bread baking operation for the restaurant. She then took over as head pastry chef at the inn, a position she held until 1998. She became a full-time instructor at the school in 1999 and has been active in numerous events and exhibitions. Her advice to her students? "Take advantage of the opportunities in the industry during your studies. You're going to get out of your education what you put into it."

January, 2004