Raised by an excellent cook, but didn't become more than a serviceable cook myself until about 5 years ago. Now I like to try virtually anything, especially if it delivers hidden vegetables to children. Savory Italian dishes. Old classics made new. Pie. Cookies. Spicy things. Light biscuits. Making Chinese dumplings from scratch with my mother, aunts and cousins. Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding at Christmas. The famous "church cake". The sausage strata for Sunday brunch. My standing rib roast this Christmas -- it was pronounced the best roast ever by my father and husband. I rubbed a glorious roast with olive oil, butter, fresh garlic and liberally splattered it with kosher salt and pepper. I used the dripping to make Yorkshire pudding. Pumpkin pie without sugar (it looks perfect, but tastes like soapy squash). Pumpkin pie with mold. The cookies that got left on top of the car.