I try to cook almost every night and like to experiment with different foods. We are constantly changing our diet and have friends with special diets (vegetarian, vegan, low-carb, etc) so I am learning a lot about different techniques and alternative foods to the "normal American diet". Pasta, salsa, traditional Asian cuisine, anything sauteed in butter and white wine I grew up eating a lot of Asian cuisine made by my Japanese mother. Our family recipes include futo maki, sukiyaki, steamed dumplings, potstickers, stir-fry, lo-mein, creamed tuna, and tuna noodle casserole. After years of practice I can finally roll sushi with a traditional bamboo mat like a professional. Now everyone raves about the authentic sushi I make, which is quite different than the common grocery store variety. When I was younger I tried to make a casserole based on a recipe I found, but I very rarely ate casseroles growing up, except tuna noodle which is more of just pasta with sauce, so I had never really seen my mother make one. I tried to assemble and bake it properly, but not even the dog would eat it.