I am German by heritage and use my mother's recipes as a basis for most of what I cook. My husband and I often host our own 'cooking show' in our large country kitchen where family or guests sit on bar stools while we cook together on the other side of the island bar. With good company and a little bit of wine, this is a great way to spend an evening! One dish meals, German cuisine, Italian, Mexican, and Asian. Sweets are also high on my list as long as they are not overly sugary. As a super-taster, I tend to prefer to take the subtle flavors in a dish rather than over-seasoning. Our Christmas dinner relies heavily on my German mother's recipes which were handed down by several generations. Now that Mom is gone, we keep up the tradition by splitting up the same dishes she make between our 5 siblings...each person makes their favorite and the hostess (me makes a few extras). Finally learning how to create my own recipes rather than relying on a recipe created by someone else. I basically can't follow a recipe without adding my own touch but now I've learned to just 'dream up' a recipe of things that just sound like they would go well together. Not being able to follow my Mom's recipes because she rarely wrote down quantities, just basic ingredients. She also didn't always leave directions...so some of her wonderful dishes died along with her.