My mom taught me most of what i know. She was baking since she was a girl and I basically followed in her footsteps. I love to bake more than anything although I do enjoy cooking as well. I come from a white american family and I married a Polynesian from New Zealand so I have definetly been introduced to all kinds of new foods and tastes. I also served a mission in Spain for 1 1/2 years where I was introduced to even more diverse foods. Unfortunately the things I seem to do best at are the things I bake which are not healthy in the slightest! I love to make anything from cookies to wedding cakes to caramel apples, if its sweet I'll try to do it. Flavor is a huge issue of course but the funner or prettier it looks the better. Simple things are good but I love to see what more I can do to make things even more over the top. My favorite family traditions are baking goodies at Christmas time with my mom. I also enjoyed helping her quite a few times when she would cater weddings. Of course it wasn't just about the food but being together. It helps when your cooking teacher is not just your mom but your best friend. I guess each wedding and birthday cake I make are my biggest accomplishments because its not just for my enjoyment. But I do have to say, every time I make a healthy dinner that my husband and kids love, that is also a big triumph! My first batch of cookies I ever made was when I was a little girl. I accidently misread the directions and added 1 cup of salt instead of 1 cup of sugar. After I added it I mentioned to my mom that I thought it was wierd to put so much salt in cookies. Of course she freeked out and let me know of my mistake in a nice way. We tried to scrape it out but it was too late and that batch went to the trash.