This is something I repeat all the time "cada cocinero tiene su librito" (each cook has his/her own book). In the case of cookbooks that saying is quite literal. But what interests me here is the style of following instructions from recipes.
In my case I have to confess that I love to improvise, which leads in some cases to spectacular results, and in some other cases to embarrassing disasters.
This is one of those cases that I preach but don't do. I always recommend our readers to follow recipes to a T for the first time, and when they get it right to improvise their own dishes. But we all know we don't always follow sage advice (even our own).
What is your style?