An old Iowa farm boy, I learned to cook watching my mom, Fernie. When asked how much of an ingredient to put in, she would reply "till it looks right", and when asked how long to cook something, she would say "till it's done, dummy". She took what she had, and made something good out of it. I have a smoker, so I enjoy doing ribs in it. I just try to buy what is on sale, and then build a good meal around it. We have a freezer, so we buy quantities when it's on sale, to use later. I'm mostly a beef and pork man, grilled, smoked, or roasted, but I sometimes like to use the crock-pot. It's pretty fail-safe. My Mom's baked beans (from scratch) and baked ham on the Holidays, usually with scalloped potatoes and onions in a rich cheese sauce. Stroganoff, baked beans, scalloped potatoes, peanut brittle, English toffee, pulled pork, BBQ brisket, 4 bean salad, crab quiche. Almost anything with fish or scallops. I can't seem to keep from overcooking these.