I am 20 years old and have been cooking since I was 9. I can actually remember making Spaghetti at 9 years old. I started simple, things from boxes, cans and jars and have slowly worked up to making almost everything I eat from scratch. I haven't met anyone who hasn't liked my cooking. I really love Middle Eastern food, they always taste so fresh and healthy to me. I also like Mexican food a lot, along with Spanish and other Latin cuisines. Add in a pinch of Indian and a whole lot of down home All American and that is my favorite and best to cook. My family doesn't really have too many cooking traditions. There is Christmas dinner with my mom, Thanksgiving with my dad and an Easter brunch. But every New Year's Day for the last few years we have had Hog Jowl and Black Eyed Peas with my southern raised step-mom, for a prosperous New Year. My real cooking triumph would probably be this past Thanksgiving, when I cooked the entire dinner all by myself, at age 20. No one had anything bad to say, even my extrememly picky step-dad, and everyone loved all of my recipes. Especially the green bean casserole I got from this site, I used fresh instead of canned and it was a huge hit. My worst tragedy in the kitchen was after I got a Lebanese cook book for Christmas. I made three or four dishes without a problem and was pretty confident. Then I tried to make falafel; it looked beautiful until I tried to fry it and it became a mushy mass in the pan. I was distraught! I haven't attempted it since, but someday I will master the falafel.