I started cooking when I moved to Japan to go to school, and got well acquainted with Japanese supermarkets and their produce. Although I've always shopped at Asian markets, it was a real experience being limited to just one type of cuisine and learning how to cook with their ingredients. Now that I'm back in the states I've got a new passion for learning to cook, and use Allrecipes regularly as a guide. My favorite things to cook would probably be sweets. Cakies, cookies, fudge, and cupcakes definitely top the list. Aside from that, I enjoy almost any type of cooking. From within my own family, I would say it would Adobo and Lumpia (traditional Filipino foods) from my mom's side and the 'meat fest' BBQs my dad would have as a kid. Although it's not much, I made a peppersteak stirfry recipe I found on the site (with tweeks suggested by reviewers and a little thensome), and my younger brother absolutely loved it. My mom is vegan so he hardly has meat when at home, so whenever I'm over my mom's place they ask me to make it. Also, some of my deserts. I used recipes for Banana Cream Pie (w/Coconut Whipped Cream & Toasted Coconut Flakes), Coconut Creme Cake, and Chantal's New York Cheesecake (w/Chocolate Ganache) and got rave reviews. Each cake I gave a personal touch in terms of finishing and decoration, and each employed a technique I was unfamiliar with. The cake was my first double layered attempt, I braided the crust for the pie, and the cheesecake I cooked bain marie style. The Cheesecake so far is ranked #1. I was told it rivaled professionals! =) And it always makes me smile when people enjoy my cooking. I once ruined a whole dozen cupcakes by not dolloping the cream cheese filling quite right. Also, once I made a lattice top pie and made some beautiful looking leaf toppers to brush with egg wash. The crust came out far too puffy and none of the shapes retained and the lattice strips broke. =( The eggwash also did nothing.