I love foods that pack a punch! If it has peppers in the recipe, there's a good chance I'll love it. I always look for the spiciest thing on the menu! I LOVE to cook and bake. I enjoy the time it takes to dice and slice fresh ingredients and use that time to listen to NPR and reflect on my day. Cooking is my peaceful meditation. What I cook comes with love and peaceful wishes. I don't have any cooking traditions. My biological mother was a terror in the kitchen, I'm not sure if it's from lack of knowledge or lack of trying(although her father was head hors d'oeuvre chef at the Hilton back home so I would imagine she should have picked up a thing or two). When I was a freshman in college I had a lot of time inbetween classes. I would sit int he commons and watch epicurious... it was before foodnetwork. Although much of the food was high end gourmet stuff that I don't care for or want to eat, I sure learned a lot of the principles of cooking. Who says TV rots your brain? I learned how to cook from it!! I enjoy spending time in the kitchen and love to cook and bake. My first attempt at chicken parmesan was bitter, dry and just plain bad! I have learned to trust my guts, if you think a recipe calls for too long a cooking time... trust your instincts, check the temp when YOU think it should be done. Recipes are still suggestions.