My mother was the best cook. I've been giving dinner parties since I was 17, and I give her all the credit for my success. I don't think there is a 'favorite.' I'm happiest when I'm cooking/baking/grilling/whatevering for someone else. Yule Kage - I have my grandmother's recipe, and everyone wants it. It's shared with the family, but it is never shared outside the family. The first time I made a 5-layer cake. It was for my daughter's 13th birthday. Plus, it was a recipe never tried by anyone I knew. It was fabulous. Pie crusts - I remember one day trying and trying and crying about the fact that I could not make a pie crust. I felt like I failed ... all the women in the family knew how to make pie crust. It took 20 years to succeed ... I no longer need to buy store bought pie crusts.