I have been cooking and baking since I was about 12 - that's about 35 years. I considered going to culinary arts school, but never did. I love all kinds of cuisine - I just love food (and eating.) I like easy recipes with a lot of ingredients. Those kinds of recipes always seem to be more satisfying and flavorful. Some of my favorite recipes from when I was a kid are my mother's Stuffed Peppers. I've never had anything like them before or since! Also, Chicken Paprikash right from my Hungarian family kitchen. I will get those recipes on this site at some point. I once made a goat cheese and roasted vegeteble lazagna completely from scratch, including scratch pasta with my new pasta machine. It took forever, but it was awesome! In the early days (when I was 12-13) I blew up the gas stove when I was getting ready to bake something. Yikes! I had turned on the gas while waiting for my aunt to come over to light the oven (see, there was a reason they didn't let me do it.) Right before she came over I turned it off again, thinking it had been on too long. I said nothing to her and she lit the oven and it blew up in her face (she was okay, just singed and mad.) Baking has been a tragedy since I moved from the east coast to Colorado. The altitude changes everything, but I never know when to adjust. Sometimes it just means taking a chance to see if the recipe will work out or needs adjusting.