I'm 24 and have been married for five years to the most gentle and understanding man. His gentleness and patience has been appreciated, as I have spent the last five years "learning to cook." He has endured some major cooking tragedies, most in which he just smiled and asked for seconds.... and then others that we still can't stop laughing about. The good news is that slowly with time, (and the help of Allrecipes) I am developing in to quite a little cook! And my husband, friends and family couldn't be happier... or more relieved! :) My favorite things to cook are the ones that I know people will enjoy the most. I love hearing thier first reaction at the first bite, and I await for someone to ask me for seconds. It makes me feel like a good wife and it means a lot to me because it is definitely something I had to work at. My most favorite thing to cook is my own personal recipe for spaghetti. It was the first recipe that I created on my own, simply by experimenting. It took quite a bit of fine tuning and I still shake it up now and then and add something new. My spaghetti taught me how to take risks and let my own tastebuds be my guide. It has helped me feel more comfortable about cooking, and learning your own special touch can make a recipe all your own. My struggle with cooking has been in part due to my own family's traditions. I grew up up on boxed mac n cheese and anything "instant". Therefore I didn't get a lot of exposure to my family's cooking traditions. I wish I would have spent more time with my grandmother, and learned to make her apple pie and her one in a kind applesauce. I've learned the importance of handing down traditions the hard way, and hope to change that cycle with my own children. Already I have encouraged my 12 year old brother to join me in the kitchen. I hope to make cooking a fun exciting adventure for my own children someday, that they will share with thier own and pass down the lessons and comfort that cooking has to offer. My most recent triumph is a recipe I picked up on this website. It was a banana cake that I ended up making for a memorial service for law enforcement officers. It was by far the sweetest and moist banana cake I had ever had and turned out amazing. I have never made a dish that flew out of the pan so quickly and many were saying, "This is the best cake I have ever had!" Anyone in my family can tell you about the first cooking tragedy I had, even though there were many. The first thing I ever tried to cook from a recipe was "Veggie Bites". I have no idea what inspired me to attempt this recipe but I must have been 12 at the time. My family STILL teases me about this, 13 years later... as it was the most horrid smelling dish you can imagine. So disgusting that no one wanted to try it, and of course the punch line of the story... the dog wouldn't even eat it. Still trying to live this one down!