I have been cooking since I was about 11 years old. My mother started myself and sisters our cooking one meal a week. As I got older I took a bigger interest in cooking. The majority of my family know me as the "family chef", but I don't consider myself a "chef" just someone who loves to cook. It is my most passionate hobby. I started out cooking sort of healthy, which I learned from my mother since she was a nutritionist. However, it wasn't until she got sick that I really became even more focused on making my meals healthy. Now I have her to thank for my interest and love in cooking and in making it healthy. I love cooking manapua it is a Chinese steamed bun with meat. It takes a lot to make this special food, but everyone in my family loves it. Another of my favorite things to cook is chow mein noodles. So simple and satisfying to make and eat. Also goes great with the manapua. Every Christmas and New Years it has been a family tradition to go back to our families food roots. On Christmas day my family spends all day in the kitchen cooking up our favorite Hawaiian foods such as laulau, kalua pig, kal-bi ribs with rice. New Years is Chinese food again we spend the majority of the day cooking things like manapua, chow mein, lemon chicken and rice. I would have to say my triumph in the kitchen has to be everything. I am so proud of all the dishes I attempt and complete in the kitchen. If I had to name one thing it would be the few dishes I learned how to cook without a recipe. Knowing how to use herbs, flavoring, and condiments to create a dish out of just what I know about the unique taste of each item I use is completely amazing. I cannot say I've had any cooking tragedies, just unique cooking experiments. One of those unique experiments was when I attempted to make shrimp balls for a holiday party. The shrimp balls came out soggy and rubbery. I was embarrassed to serve them. The few that turned out half way decent I did serve. I have yet to reattempt the cooking feat, but soon I shall.