Well, all I can say is that eating is my absolute favorite activity on the planet! I always try to keep an open mind and like to try anything at least once. I've always enjoyed cooking, but until recently its become somewhat of an obsession. Ive been pretty lucky because I have a super awesome boyfriend who isnt afraid to try any of my latest concoctions. Having an honest human guinea pig is always helpful! I've become really intersted in different ethnic cuisine, Indian being the frontrunner. The fragrant spices that fill the room put me in my happy place. I love using fresh ingredients and cooking vegetarian meals as well. Although Im not a vegetarian and really enjoy a good steak or chicken dish, I have always been weirded out by handling raw meat, so I would like to become more comfortable with grilling, sauteing, and just the overall preparation of meat in general. I also really enjoy garlic and any recipe that has a lot of it is one that Im definitely down for! The more, the better in my opinion. Oh yeah, and anytime I can melt cheese on something, Im a happy girl. If I could pick one recipe from my childhood to spark nostalgia and please dinner guests, it would be my mothers famous Pork Chops and Chicken Noodle Soup. Its an amazing ( and very cheap!) pork chop dish using yellow mustard and canned chicken noodle soup. Everytime Ive ever made it for ''first timers'' they usually turn their nose up when I list out the ingredients, but when its in the oven and the smell is permeating the room, their looks of fear instantly turn to intrigue. Then they take the first bite and their eyes get big and I always have to say ''I told you so!'' and the best part is it consists mainly of ingredients that people normally have on hand, and it's great for a cold winter evening! well, I must admit feeling pretty groovy when I finally perfected my mother's pork chop recipe. Other than that, I guess Im still searching for my major cooking triumph! oh, well, most of my tragedies have to do with baking. Im not sure what it is im doing wrong, but I have pretty much come to the realization that I will probably never own my own bakery! I once baked three different loaves of banana bread in one week, each time trying to correct what I thought I had done wrong before. Each time I sliced into the bread, it had the texture of solid rock on the outside, and almost a crisco-like consistency on the inside. Needless to say it just wasnt working. Its sad too, because I LOVE banana bread, but I think Im turned off to it for a at least a little while!