I came to visit Japan a few years ago but couldn't stay because I needed a proper working visa. To aquire that I needed to graduate from University - so I went home and to University! 1 month after I completed my last final exam I was on a plane back. I met my husband a few months after landing...and here I am still in Japan! I enjoy cooking Italian, or hand-me-down recipes that my mother gave me - Shepard's Pie, Salmon and Egg mash in pastry. my mother is a fantastic cook - French Canadian. For Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving she makes Sugar Pie - sort of like pecan pie without the pecans but...not at all like pecan pie without the pecans. It is so difficult to explain! BUT FANTASTIC!! That I am learning to cook with confidence - at a very slow rate (usually it MUST be from a cook book) but I am learning to follow my instincts! I have never really cared for cooking as I stressed my mom out when I'd buzz around her in the kitchen - but since I got married my husband does most of the cooking and I am VERY embarrassed to admit that so I am learning slowly but surely! I tried to make my first Japanese-style dinner a few months ago - small amounts of food but a few different foods on the table...well...let's just say it wasn't my hubbies favorite dinner :(