Been cooking since I was 10. Am retired with spouse of 38 years; love to cook, and have been able to adjust to cooking for 2 pretty easily. We enjoy grilling year-round, as well as crockpot recipes that can cook when we are out crusing on our boat and trying to catch a fish. I still cook "from scratch" as I do not like a lot of the extra things that go into prepared mixes and bases. It's actually not that much harder to do this than people think. everything. Grilling and BBQ (even in the snow in Alexandria, VA). During the milder winters here in central CA, we can still do this, but also enjoy the "comfort foods". Cooking "from scratch". I don't make desserts very much as neither my husband nor I have a sweet tooth. Enchiladas, rice and refried beans for 50 people on 1 day's notice in Pittsfield, MA (1979), where no one knew what a tortilla was. Peanut butter cookies that even the dog would not eat (when I was about 13).