I'm currently working as a restaurant manager in Dallas, although that doesn't keep me from wanting to cook. It just keeps me from wanting burgers & fries. I spent the first six or seven years of my life growing up in New Orleans, so Creole and Cajun are two of my favorite kinds of food. And there is the fried oyster recipe passed down through Mom's side of the family, from when one of my great-something grandmothers ran a boarding house. The only true Family Cooking Tradition I can think of is planning the desserts first for holiday meals, something that comes from my Dad's mother. She always planned out the desserts first for our family get-togethers, and everything else just fell into place, pot-luck style. Biggest triumph so far was this past Thanksgiving, when I cooked dinner for my significant other and his parents. Roast turkey, squash casserole, sweet potatoes, cornbread dressing, the works. Nobody got food poisoning. ;) I also made a king cake from scratch for everybody at my restaurant on Mardi Gras, which disappeared the same day. I remember more stories about my brother & sister messing things up in the kitchen than I do about me. (Funny, isn't it?) However, there was a time I made Jell-O and it never gelled... And I'm horrible at making rice if it's not instant. Especially brown rice.