I love cooking for special occasions ( ex. birthdays and Christmas) the best and I pull out all the stops with favorite recipes that are soon becoming a family tradition. We love having a special home decorated birthday cake for the kids. We did a 3D Winnie-the-Pooh cake once in traditional colors (daughter) and once in a Batman costume (son). I supposed you can call that a cooking triumph. My husband and niece slaved over decorating the bear. They even did a test run the first time before finally making a second cake for the actual birthday. That makes THREE 3D CAKES in all! The results were amazing and I can picture it still! We have two more sons that are each owed a 3D Pooh cake, I haven't forgotten. (We ran out of steam near the end). I've been experimenting and teaching myself how to cook since I was 10. When I was in jr. high school, I remember trying to make bread. One of the ingredients was "milk, scalded". I thought scalded meant "burnt" as that is the common definition! So, I put the milk on the stove and diligently tried to burn it. It was a sticky, stinky, horrible mess. I continued with the recipe using the burnt quagmire and my bread didn't really turn out well. I still don't know why! :D (It was years later that I learned as an adult that "scalded" in cooking means just until the milk starts to bubble on the edges.)