Well, my mom started teaching me how to cook when I was four. Sounds a bit farfetched, but it's true. I took to it like wild on rice, and have been experimenting, failing, succeeding, and enjoying every aspect of cooking ever since. Some may say I'm an expert at cooking, but I still say novice. There will always be someone out there with a new technique to try out! I go through fazes with different "tastes". Most recently it was everything ginger! But now I am moving on from that to herbs; mostly tarragon and dill based, but I've also had a bothersome craving for all things curry, lol! Shopping for supplies before a feast! There is nothing more exciting to me than the hunt for the perfect ingredient. Getting over my fear of gas ranges. Now, I don't know how I ever lived without it! 1) Mistaking stale baking soda for baking powder in sugar cookies, age 15. 2) Walking away from a French Onion soup project, forgetting where I was, and ending up with "oil onion soup", age 12. 3) Last October, I was making a sugar free pumpkin cheese cake for some friends. Not being able to find Equal in the store I settled for Splenda. The Splenda, on top of anything but ideal cooking conditions, lead to a creation not exactly cheese cake, but something with a pudding texture instead. Tasted excellent though!