Growing up, my mom and dad worked opposite shifts. Unfortunately my mom worked four o'clock to midnight, so dinner ideas were put on dad. When we weren't eating McDonalds everynight, we ate pasta, spaghetti, or noodles. My dad had limited knowledge of cooking, but he could boil water like no one you've seen before. So, it was up to my brothers and myself to break from another night of Bertolli and make something else! My number one cooking favorite is making homemade chex mix. I can snack on it all day long and not get bored with it. Fresh salsa is also a favorite. Snack foods are definately big for me, but I tend to make ALL foods snack foods. We don't have many traditions, because our family is extremely small. I do like the idea that my mother and I would be the start of what could be family tradition. My cooking tragedies... one thing definately comes to mind. Oil shouldn't boil, especially in a regular covered saucepan on your home stove. I was trying to make homade doughnut holes when I was in grammar school, and I knew they had to be fried. I put oil in a pot, covered it, and waited for it to boil as water does. When I open the lid a while later, the pot was on fire. I put the lid back on, and tried to comprehend what I just saw. Being in the dead of winter, I turned off the stove, took the pot outside, and left it covered on a big chunk of frozed driveway. I almost started my kitchen on fire, but I leanred a valuable lesson.