I am married with two sons (a college sophomore and a high school sophomore). I had worked for 25 years, and stopped working last year which gives me the time to explore different interests. When I was working, I cooked only during the weekends but now, I am preparing dinner almost every night, other than the weekends ! The biggest challenge for me is to put together new meals which keeps cooking interesting, however, my family tends to have well established favorites, and new dishes tend to leave me with too much leftovers. I like experimenting with new recipes, but then I always end up with the same old standbys because that's what my family enjoys most. The perennial favorites in our house are simply grilled salmon, roast chicken, pan-roasted filet, grilled lamb chops and shepherd's pie. I do pastas whenever my son needs a carbo load ... pasta with sausage, with meat sauce, and even an all vegetarian version. I love holiday cooking ... especially Thanksgiving and Christmas. This gives me an opportunity to do a big spread, and although I tend to have to serve the same sides (again ... picky family who likes the same things every year), I always try a couple of new recipes. The ability to put together an entire holiday dinner by myself. I am not successful in desserts or baking ... even cake from a box mix comes out so-so. I think this is due to my lack of precision when it comes to cooking. I like estimating spices and ingredients, adding more or less as the flavor demands, but not in baking which needs precise measurements.