Started baking at 12. I learned from watching my Nana who made the BEST pies hands down. My mother let me help her in the kitchen and let me grocery shop when I could drive. Despite this solid foundation I still can't figure out "what's for dinner" Cakes,cookies, PIES! bread One tradition we had growing up was the Christmas Pudding. My Nana was from England, so she made traditional Plum pudding which was doused with brandy? and set ablaze until the alcohol burned up. It was served with traditional topping Nana called "hard sauce", very sweet and unbeknownst to me, laced with brandy as well. I haven't been able to erase the memory of the Christmas I ate the leftovers with a spoon. Banana Coconut Macadamia Pie. from the New Basics Cookbook. the crust is like a macaroon. to die for. The gourmet choclate/raspberry brownies I made for my husband when we first started to date. The best ingredients and somewhat labor intensive, but they were AWFUL. He later [much]told me he just like plain old box brownies... sigh.