I live in Maine, having lived here for the past 4 years. I've been cooking since I moved out of my parents house when I was 18 year old. It started by filling a need to eat but has slowly evolved into a passion for food. I love trying new foods and have really started to challenge myself with new cooking techniques. I love Allrecipes.com as this provides such a vast source of recipes to choose from and to grow with. Ethnic Foods, Baked Goods, Candies, Tasty Dinners. My family didn't do much in the way of cooking together. I remember from pretty early on that I saw a passion in my father when he would cook, though that wasn't very often. I remember my grandmother would always make and decorate the grandchildrens birthday cakes when we were younger. They were always beautiful cakes. I've become passionate about cake decorating probably due to her influence. Every time I make a potluck dish to bring into work and people actually ask for the recipe. That makes me feel good about what I've accomplished. I really can't think of any tragedies. I'm sure I've burned things and I've had to throw some things out because they were indeible, but they were learning experiences, not tragedies.