I am a high school student while taking classes at our local JC. I am an aspiring chef. I started cooking in early 2007 and I have not stopped since. I plan on attending the Culinary Institute of America in New York City after I graduate from UCLA. My family seems to cook just about anything from any cuisine. I, on the other hand, seem to stick to Italian and Mediterranean cooking, along with desserts. I love to cook with chocolate and with pasta so if anyone knows a good combination of the two (i know it sounds weird) i am all ears. For a while after I started, I played Sous Chef to my parents. The time when I finally outcooked my mom and gained privaleges to using the kitchen myself is when I outcooked her in Chili. I am lucky enough to live with my grandma, who taught me everything about baking. My first risotto I ever cooked took me an hour and a half and it came out perfectly. The first cake I ever made was from scratch, three layers, with a chocolate mousse filling and a chocolate buttercream frosting. If you cant tell, I love chocolate. The second risotto i attempted called for chile-garlic butter, which usually not in stores. Not wanting to go to a gourmet food store, i figured why not make it myself. Unfortunately, the way to make chile-garlic butter is with Chile and garlic POWDER. I, stupidly, used actual garlic and real poblano chiles. That was a catastrophe. Way to spicy and WAAAAY to garlicy.