I was a school band director in my former life and "fell into" cooking when a friend recommended me for the country club chef. Been in it ever since. I love to make flavorful entrees and desserts. It is also important the the food is beautiful. My mother was very eclectic and I inherited her love of trying new and sometimes unusual cooking techniques and recipes. For about 15 years I was a caterer and loved it! I was pretty good at it and I feel that I kept getting better until I retired to take a less demanding job. I think that nothing can be more demanding than catering--unless it is restaurant ownership. With a partner, I opened a small restaurant which failed because it was under-capitalized. We were on the way to being what we wanted until we just couldn't hang on for lack of money. Please learn from me, all you cooks out there; a shoestring isn't good in the restaurant business.