I am an air traffic controller in Houston, TX. Cooking is one of my favorite things to do. My wife and I usually alternate taking the chef role and the other assists. Meals are made quickly this way and there is a distinct togetherness brought about by creating and eating a meal together. My main meal favorite is fish. I'm not really particular about what kind, but I prefer salt water fish that is caught wild. I generally make a sauce including onions, tomatoes and lots of spices that complement that fish, then cook the fish on top of the already made sauce. My dad always made a huge meal for Sunday dinner, centered on a whole turkey, a large ham, or a large beef roast. We very much enjoyed Sunday meals, then generally made sandwiches for school lunches the rest of the week. I consider my greatest triumph the knowledge and ability combination to be able to alter recipes as needed with ingredients on hand. While certain base ingredients are required for most recipes, spioes and other additions can be used on an ad hoc basis. I find spices and herbs to be the most necessary item for a successful recipe. My family always saved bacon drippings to be used for frying eggs and flavoring other recipes. When I was about 10 years old, I asked if bacon drippings were a good substitute for shortening. Since the recipe in question rendered the answer to be "yes," my ten-year old mind took "yes" to be universal. Needless to dwell much further on the fact that my next batch of chocolate chip cookies was an abysmal failure.