I've been cooking since I was around 12 years old. I learned from both parents, but mostly my dad. He was in the military and is 20 years older than my mom so he's from a totally different generation which is a bonus on the cooking side! I used to watch him cook all the time and learned alot from him. My interest in cooking started at a young age from watching my dad and I've loved it ever since! I like to experiment and try new things. I don't really mind baking, but I don't do it often. I love desserts and make them on occasion, but I prefer to make meals whether it's gourment, grilled, baked or 30 minute easy dishes. I love them all. Every Sunday we'd have family dinner at my grandmother's (my dad's mom) who was an excellent cook and I learned a few tricks from her as well. My mom's parents lived on a farm and my grandfather raised his own cattle and slaughtered it and had his own smokehouse. Everything I ate there was fresh. He also had a garden. I had some of the BEST meals and breakfasts on the farm. There's nothing like having fresh eggs the chickens just laid, fresh smoked bacon and fresh cows milk in the morning for breakfast. My grandmother even made fresh butter for me with homemade bread and sometimes she'd make me homemade ice cream. That was the bomb! Of course everything was cooked in bacon lard which added so much flavor and extra pounds to my figure! Haha! I still fry my eggs in bacon grease:) Making my very first fresh Easter ham which turned out delicious and I got the recipe from this site. My Easter dinner was awesome! Thank you! Thank you! I wouldn't really say I've had any tragedies. No one has died from my cooking! Haha! I've made plenty of mistakes tho. When I first learned how to grill I burnt my steaks so bad..they were beyond burnt and I learned fairly quick that if you make a hamburger real thick it takes forever to cook inside and the outside gets burnt to a crisp. I realized then that buying a cheap grill was not the way to go. I also made a thick clumpy mess learning how to make gravy for the first time and pie crust/pizza dough.. well I won't even go there. I now buy pre made dough and crust:)