I had to learn to cook by necessity, my husband was waisting away to nothing! LOL! Once I discovered I was good at it and it came to me very easily I was hooked! A few years later I took up cake decorating and a cottage business was born. Sadly I've given that up (for now) in pursuit of a career in public education. I'm seriously thinking about going back to it and maybe a open a bakery / mom and pop restaurant. That really depends on what kind of mood I'm in or what the weather is outside. Every Christmas my family gathers and we make traditional Texas tamales. We also make a huge variety of cookies for exchange. My ABSOLUTE favorite family cooking tradition is we all gather in the kitchen, cook together and eat together (unfortunately clean up is still all mine!) LOL My sour dough bread starter, I made it when I was carrying my daughter, that would be 19yrs ago, and it's better than ever! Not sitting down with my mother before she passed away and writing down all her and her mother's recipes. Happily I remember most of them but I'm sure I'm forgetting some!