I love making rich and hearty soups, and using my slow cooker to the maximum once the cold weather starts to hit. I recently found a love over the summer of using my bbq to make delicious flat breads and grilled pizzas. I enjoy baking and am currently getting interested in trying my hand at some candy making. My parents are both wonderful cooks, but my father is the most interested in it now, during his "Golden Years". One of the best tips I learned from my father is never be afraid to alter a recipe, tweak it to your own standards (or whatever you have on hand at the time) and trying something again if it didn't work out the first time. I can make an awesome homemade pasta sauce and meatballs. Don't ask for the recipe though because there isn't one. Friends have asked me how I make my sauce and it's never anything I can put down on paper. I watched my mother and father do it all my life, and I just go with it. Anything having to do with making my own dough or bread. I just have never had a knack for working the dough. It either comes out too tough, or underdone. That's why I love those "done for you" pie crusts at the store. I think working the dough is an art form only some people posess. I'm not one of those people.