You could say I started cooking as a teenager in self defense. To protect myself & the rest of the family from my mother's disasterous cuisine. My mom, with some great measure of relief, bought me a copy of The Joy of Cooking & gave me free reign in the kitchen. I read that cookbook like you might read a novel, and had great times teaching myself. I still love to read cookbooks to this day! I absolutely adore baking my apple pie recipe, and find peace and joy in baking fresh bread. I love to cook holiday dinners and do everything from scratch. I've cooked holiday meals for 2 people, for 23 people, and for every number in-between. It is a very rare holiday that people aren't volunteering to eat at our place! What do they bring? The wine!