Grad student, ex-vegan now pescetarian. I don't have time for real hobbies right now, but if I have to eat and drink anyway I might as well do it as well as possible both in terms of health and enjoyment. I seem to have inherited a love of feeding people from my mother and grandmother. Homemade bread, when I have the time. Soup--favorites include ginger-peanut stew, roasted butternut squash, vegetarian white chili, black bean and vegetable, split pea, and a tomato-based tilapia concoction. My mother's stir-frys and teriyaki salmon still make my toes curl. Mochi manju will probably always be a favorite sweet, although I don't often take the time to make it. Food's about the only Japanese retention I've got. I hosted a party in for 50-75 people, made a huge spread plus sangria and pre-mixed margaritas. It was all vegan--but no one believed it, and people have been raving about it for over a year now. My mother and I tried to make a roll cake for my dad using our favorite from-scratch chocolate cake and his favorite black cherry ice cream. But the cake was too soft and moist, and just fell apart and we ended up sitting on the floor at midnight, crying, and eating bits of crumbled cake and melting ice cream off the kitchen floor. The lesson: improvise with caution.