I am 37 and have been cooking since the age of 13 i can cook my dishes from scratch becase i hate food out of the box for the most part anyway for example rice pilaf 3/4 cup cheap rice 2tbs butter 1 1/2 cups water 1 cube chix bullion 1/4 cup orzo pasta heat water/bullion/margarine in the pan on high until boiling completely dissolve the bullion or your rice will be salty add the rice and pasta and simmer 18 mins do not stir its the steam that cooks your rice stirring makes it mushy everyone loves this rice you can add peas and carrots if you like chicken parm roasted turkey bbq breakfast sausage gravy and biscuts yummy corn casserole almost all mexican food i love cheese cuban food picadillo gallo pinto carn asado maduros I have a vast culture of favorites and if i was rich I would start my own concept diner or something to that effect We are meat and potatoes people and bbq is a way of life for us I am blessed to have a grandmother from the south and the food of this style i.e comfort food lives up to its name I am fom the north ohio so my cooking style is more like the union of the north and south instead of the war between it roasted turkey with a sage rub its a recipe for mccormicks sage rubbed chicken but goes great on the turkey and baste every hour i am somewhat of a purist when it comes to my food and some rubs and spice ruin your gravy this makes an excellent gravy as well so its traditional also make a mean scampi breads are hard for me everything else has come fairly easy I just conquersd gravies its the roux thats hard if you dont know a thing about gravies its very difficult for a first timer I always find a way to make things easier so I use a hand mixer instead of the whisk and makes gravy simple and the roux silky smooth no more lumpy gravy!!!!! and one of the best out there