My mother never taught me to cook so I had to learn from my mistakes. Fortunately, most of my mistakes were palatable. Maybe not very appealing to the eye but edible just the same. I love to bake, especially cakes. I used to decorate cakes as a hobby. I love to make Italian foods and make them pretty well. I love Southwestern Dishes. I discovered this while my children were little and very picky. If I told them the dish was Mexican or Southwestern they would eat it. Are around the Holidays. My mother had Holiday traditions which I continued with my children. Every year I try to add something new or a twist on an old favorite just so that we dont have the same things over and over. were when I used to cater different events for the church that I attended at cost. The minister was so disappointed when I stopped attending that church. I had different members threaten to kidnap away from my husband. As I say I am fortunate that the cooking tragedies have been few and far between. My first was when I was first married back in 1982. The first homemade pizza I made was too saucy. We still managed to eat it though. Another was in 1993, I made a dish with nuts in it and ground them up too much. The chicken breasts looked like a bird had either vomitted or defecated on them. Still if you got past the appearance the chicken was good. In 1996, I made a stew for church and did not put in enough salt and had neglected to bring a shaker with me. Recently, I made a rice dish that was too salty.