I have been cooking with my family before I could reach the counter. My mom would set me up there and hand me utensils. I have been married now for almost 10 years to my Greek husband. If any of you married Greek you know that his Yaya and his mother make sure I know the family recipes. They are absolutely fun and completely different than my mom's Homestlye. I love to cook period. I enjoy taking on a challenge and trying new recipes, even pulling stuff out of thin air. ( my brain :]) Usually when I try something new, I am so consumed that I do not write it down right away, then of course I forget exactly what I did. We have a lot of one timers at my house. My favorite family cooking traditions have just started. I do not live, nor have I, near any family so usually it is me and my son who is seven. He loves to get in the kitchen, and doesn't want any help. He makes some mean green pancakes. I do love when my family and friends get together though. Inevitably we end up in the kitchen. My husband and son have so many favorites. But my triumph in any recipe is learning it so well I don't even have to look at the recipe anymore. My mom and I made a dish she got off of the food network, or something like that. It was terrible! The recipe sounded great, but in the end it was way too salty, we couldn't even bare to eat it. This was so sad for two reasons: 1- it was seafood, so it was very expensive and 2- we all love seafood.