I have been cooking for myself only in the past few years. I have had to move around quite frequently being a student and look forward to settling into a kitchen for more than a year.I started out baking but recently I have started to love cooking as well. I love to spend free time looking through recipes online and in cookbooks. I am currently living in Vigo, Spain. This makes cooking interesting for many reasons. One is I have to translate all of my measurements to the metric system. Two I have to translate ingredients on my list before I go to the grocery store. And lastly I have very used kitchen utensils and a kitchen that has passed at least 18 residents in the past year. There are many perks though: I always have a crowd of taste testers, having 10 room mates, and when I go home the same recipes should turn out even better! My favorite time in the kitchen is spent baking. Things usually come out pretty, they are easy to give away, and I have a major sweet tooth. However, I do not want to eat every meal of my life in a restaurant or out of the freezer so I am learning to cook for everyday life. And I must say I am pretty proud of myself when a meal comes out well. My mom is an excellent cook, but my favorite home meal is a simple one that anyone could perfect. It is just cream of mushroom chicken from the crockpot served over egg noodles, and a side of peas. My grandmother makes the best southern breakfasts, fried chicken dinners, and delicious cobblers and pies. Anything that gets good reviews from family and friends...I have big shoes to fill. One time I tried to make twice baked potatoes for Easter with my boyfriend. It was his mom's recipe. I guess the potatoes that I was using were too small because the filling turned out to be mostly sour cream and onions with a little bit of potato. It wasn't a total tragedy though, because he was the only one to witness it, and who doesn't love sour cream?