Mom didn't cook much and when she did, it was generally from a tiny recipe box where the only spices were salt and pepper. I was banished from the kitchen when I was 5 after burning myself on the stove, so I never learned even the basics. Grocery shopping on my own for the first time was overwhelming. I had no idea where to start. The most adventurous I ever got was adding frozen broccoli to my ramen noodles. (And, I was proud about that!) I finally bought myself a cookbook and was very disappointed with the results. Lots of work to find only a few keepers. Over time, I built up a small recipe box but was getting tired of the redundancy. When I found allrecipes.com with the rating system, I was in heaven. Pre-tested, pre-approved, abundance of meals. It has been a lifesaver. My husband and kids are very grateful! I feel like my cooking skills have grown and I finally joined this wonderful community. I love to cook anything that is tasty, on the table in less than 90 minutes and is relatively healthy. My favorite tradition is the one I have created for my kids. We sit down at the table every evening for a home-cooked meal. While I am cooking, my two young kids pull up chairs or the stepstool to watch and wait for opportunities to participate (like stirring or adding ingredients.) It just feels great to be teaching this important life skill (cooking) in a way that is fun and rewarding. My first really triumph in the kitchen is when I made my very first home-made spaghetti sauce. It was delicious and simple. Now my family is spoiled and we cannot eat the jarred variety any more! Several years ago, when I was learning to cook and trying out recipes from some library cookbooks, I decided to make vegetable patties. They sounded healthy and the picture in the book was beautiful. I spent all afternoon peeling and shredding vegetables and assembling the patties. It took so long that my other dishes were cast to the wayside (this was before my Cuisinart). Anyhow, at dinner, the smell was awful. My brave husband took a bite and literally gagged. If I had known about allrecipes.com this disaster could have been avoided! I cannot tell you how much the ratings and reviews help.