i'm a mom of two beautiful daughters, ages 5 & 8. i'm also engaged to a wonderful man and love being a stay-at-home mom. comfort foods, healthy things [that no one ever realizes is healthy!], almost any type of baking, crock pot/slow cooker meals, casseroles, breakfast items... and i'm well known in the family for my 'famous' from-scratch baked mac-n-cheese, pumpkin soup, and also my brushetta (my top fav summer dish!). I also really enjoy making noodles from scratch (like for chicken soup, as an example). It can get a bit messy, but they are well worth it and my daughters love to help! Other than these few examples (as most cooks know, they typically have a ton of favs to create) I'm very proud in having the ability to come up with an amazing dish when we are low on food in the house. I think all it takes is not fearing to experiment... i've shocked myself and some of my best recipes have been total experiments. getting my daughters into the kitchen with me, and letting them explore their own personal cooking interests. it can get real messy, but they love it and always learn little tips along the way. also, sunday mornings my girls and i get up early and prepare a huge sunday breakfast. then, my fiance and girls and i all sit down and enjoy it before church. great times! at age 18, i made my first entire thanksgiving dinner all on my own. i was living on an army base and had signed with the FRG (family group for soliders and their families) to take in 8 single soliders who had no where else to go for a meal. So, including my family of 4 and two other families of 4 AND the 8 soliders, we had a big group and boy was i nervous! it was a major hit... except for the fact i forgot to put my mashed potatoes on the table (they were in the oven keeping warm). didn't remember until about 10min into our dinner! lol when i was really getting into cooking at age 11, i followed a beef wellington recipe to the tee.... my mom loved it until she ate some of her salad i'd make to go along with the main dish. i had used a head of cabbage instead of lettuce! oops!