The menu I published called Dinner for the Boy was my little triumph. I decided to surprise my boyfriend-at-the-time with dinner one night when I was home from school. If you read my cooking tragedy, you'll realize what a big deal that was. My family had teased me about cooking ever since that day, and I'd long-since given up. After the meal (spinach/strawberry salad, shrimp enchiladas, and pistachio/pineapple pudding), my Dad said that he would never tease me about cooking again because I had overcome the old mishap. When I was little, I had to make a meal to earn a badge for a girl-scouts-esque program I was in. My Mom let me pick everything and do it myself. I was big into American Girl dolls at the time, so I used a recipe for beef-steak pie and a berry dessert. Unfortunately, I mistook the t of teaspoon for tablespoons... I don't even know how much salt ended up in the beef filling and pie crust. The dog wouldn't even eat it. (The dessert was good though.) I was pretty much scarred and stayed away from cooking until recently when I started baking for my boyfriend and realized that I really enjoy it.