I am a full time student, as well as a waiter in the evenings. I am going for a degree in Chemistry, and cooking is one of the things that I love to do that I get to do the most, partly because it is a necessity. I have taken a number of culinary classes for fun, including three wine classes, a sauces class, and a baking class. When I can, I get out into mother nature, although finding the time to do so is another story. I rent an apartment, so gardening isn't really something I get to do as much as I would like, although I do have a number fresh herbs growing, and a house full of plants because I love to grow. I love to cook anything for other people, especially for that special girl in my life. Most of the time I cook pretty healthy, with chicken, fish, brown rice, steamed vegis, with little to no fat, and lots of herbs and spices. But when I do splurge, my food sure as hell isn't heart healthy, the more fat and carbs, the better. I will never leave a bad review for a recipe that I have made a single change to, that just doesn't make sense. There are many recipes I have not been happy with, but I have also changed something as well. I also don't hand out five stars left and right. Four stars means that I will definitely be making it again, but that I don't think it is the best, or close to the best, of that dish that I have ever had. I love to braise meats, and can make some killer lamb shanks. I can also cook some delicious abalone. I have done some BBQ that is better than most Specialty BBQ Restaurants. Over all nothing too special, most of my cooking is everyday kind of stuff. I tried to make a banana-coconut cream pie. Everyone liked it, but it never thickened, it was almost like a soup. The bananas floated to the top in the fridge, while it was supposed to set, it was a big disappointment.