I'm a divorced father of 2 kids and really love to cook. I try all kinds of cooking, but I manage to mostly come back to good, old Yankee fare. People never leave my table unsatisfied nor hungry. I almost never follow a recipe verbatim. I almost never measure anything either. I just grab a little of whatever sounds decent and rarely come up with a stinker. I have various variations of whipped potatoes that always go over well, wherever served. Potatoes are great, as you can do most anything with them. I like to make soups, casseroles, breads, and all types of meat. The only thing I rarely make are sweets (cookies, cakes, etc.) as I am not crazy about them. No sweet tooth here. Also, garlic is imperative! And lots of it. The kids are now getting old enough to help. One is 11 and the other almost 13. At 17 months apart, I usually wind up with them arguing about who gets to do what. I'm pretty sure they are getting my love of cooking though. Finally learning how to make bread! I gave up after awhile and bought a bread machine. About a month of frustration over having to dig the propeller out of the loaf, I saw a show on TV with someone making bread. The first time after that I got it right and put the machine into a yard sale. My other triumph is, after 2 years of having a set of Miracle Blade kitchen knives, I still have all my fingers. I've had some close calls though! One of the first casseroles I made was getting dry, so I added a little liquid. It was in a glass baking dish. BANG!!!! About a thousand pieces of glass in the oven, covered with casserole.