I am all about taste and food presentation. My most favorite thing to do is to have over friends and/or family and enjoy their company over a mouth-watering and beautifully laid-out meal. To me, this is the best way to simmer and savor the joys in life. Basically, anything cultural and gourmet--only because I have found the ingredient combinations are usually out of the norm and this helps mix up the tastebuds and reawaken the palette. So many times we eat just to eat and hardly pay attention to the food's gift of wonderful flavoring. Well, growing up my sister generally helped my mom in the kitchen and learned all the cooking secrets.I mostly helped out with the cleaning duties of the house so when I grew older and out on my own, I barely knew how to boil water. However, one thing that I did learn how to make and loved as a child was a recipe for Pineapple Bread Stuffing that had been passed down in our family for generations and is served every Easter holiday. My great love for entertaining and meal presentation has helped me to quickly expand and "catch-up" as a cook over the years. My most successful story would have to be when I hosted an Indian cruisine event with some friends. I incorporated as many small details of the culture and food recipes that I could, even the dessert and how it is traditionally served. I recieved rave reviews and to this day my friends still occassionally talk about the wonderful experience they had. I feel really really good about that. That would have to be when I attempted a wedding cake for a friend. Normally, I just make small and unique flavors of cakes for dessert at dinner parties. However, one time a friend asked me to make a particular flavor into a wedding cake for her. Not thinking about my lack of experience with cake decorating and assembly, I agreed. The cake was so horribly wobbily and decorated that I had to hide the icing imperfections with tons of flowers (to the point of total gaudiness)--and I had to buy an alternative sheet cake for the guests to eat. I was so embarrassed that I vowed I would never do another cake until I took some cake decorating classes. My lesson learned: No one is going to want to eat a cake that looks horrible on the outside no matter how good it might taste on the inside.