I am a 4th generation cook, my great grandfather was a baker by trade, my grandmother cooked for others for a living until she died at 88 (there was NOTHING my grandmother could not cook), and my mom who always has everyone clamoring for her to make them something. Something new I have never tried before - I love an adventure! My family is very close. My mother and I alternate who cooks for what holiday: I usually do Thanksgiving and she does Christmas, but we help each other along the way. The best compliments I can ever get come from my mom (who began teaching me to cook when I was 8) and my dad who has always been my guinea pig! My husband does'nt really care, as long as it includes meat. Everytime I teach new students to cook and they make somethig someone can actually eat! When I was 15, my mom was out of town on business and it was always my job to cook for my dad. I cooked fried chicken for dinner and he had one of his business friends over. He was raving about how good a cook I was at 15 and saw how beautiful the chicken turned out (they were VERY hungry). I served dinner and they took one bite - the chicken was still RAW at the bone! I was SOOOOO embarrassed! They were polite and ate around it anyway!