I was raised on processed foods and when I met the love of my life, who is a foodie, it became obvious that I had a LOT to learn! I've come a long way since we began our courtship. I've developed a palate for foods that I NEVER thought I'd eat, which still amazes me regularly. I used to be very intimidated by cooking, but now I really enjoy it. I love to cook pretty much anything that makes my husband happy! If he likes it (and he's VERY honest!) I feel a real sense of accomplishment! We're low-carb'ing it, so we tend to eat a lot of salads and dishes that can be altered to fit our lifestyle. The two family traditions that we have and I love dearly are two different types of dumplings: On my father's side, salami dumplings, which are Italian, but we're not Italian. (I guess a relative married Italian and we adopted this recipe.) On my mother's side, potato dumplings, which are quite addicting. Unfortunately, there's no real recipe because it's all based on texture. My husband's best-friend is a chef, who owns his own Italian restaurant. My husband's favorite kind of food is Italian and favorite dish is Spaghetti... The day that my husband pronounced MY spaghetti better than his best friends, was the day that I started to have confidence in the kitchen! I haven't set anything on fire, nor killed anyone (yet) with my cooking. So I don't think I've had any "tragedies"!