I am lucky enough to have two very diverse families. My So. California family and SW Florida family. I was raised by a stay at home mom who cooked for a very hungry family of seven kids and two adults. She was creative in her mexican food cooking. Here, in Florida, I have learned southern and Jewish cooking. I basically, only knew about mexican cooking until I moved to Georgia then Florida. Now, I'm open to all types of cooking and techniques. Lately , my favorite thing to cook is anything that is tied in with my husband's family heritage (Russian/Austrian Jewish food) and the southern food he fell in love with when we lived in Georgia for a few years. Hands down is Hannaukah - latkes, jelly doughnuts, beef brisket, bow-ties and kasha and apple kugel... yummm! I was unable to make macaroni for macaroni salad nor potatoes for potato salad to save my life! I sacrificed so many of them that I couldn't bring myself to even order them whenever I went out to eat. That is my big tragedy in the kitchen :(