I started learning to cook at 17. I hated it at first, but I quickly grew to love it. I'm from Oklahoma originally, but I live in PA, now and I brought my Southern traditions with me. I grow a garden, & I still put up pickles & relishes every year. I love a good chicken fried steak, biscuits & gravy, & a deep dish apple pie. I like to cook just about everything, but I love to grill outside. It's an easy clean up, and It's just fun to get out of the kitchen! I learned to cook at 17, from a 'Better Homes and Gardens' cook book. My mother burned everything...every meat patty was a hockey puck...so if I was to learn, it was up to me, and I had a baby, so I had to figure it out for my family's sake! The book was illustrated, and taught techniques step-by-step, with detailed pictures. I learned how to cut up a chicken, how to select different meats, how to make a pie crust; everything except gravy. My Granny taught me how to make good gravy. I've been cooking now for 25 years, & I love it! I was 17, attempting a London Broil for the first time & I didn't know what a clove of garlic was. That's the one thing I didn't find in the 'Better Homes and Gardens' cookbook. The internet wasn't commonplace back then, and I was too embarrased to call someone and ask, so I took a wild guess. I was wrong. I used the ENTIRE garlic. We couldn't go back into that apartment for a week & had to stay at my Mother-in-Law's!!!