I'm nearly 50 and didn't really get serious about cooking until we started a bed and breakfast for scrapbookers about 5 years ago. We sold the B&B, but I am now a cooking maniac! I love spicy dishes - mainly Mexican and Mediterranean (curries and the like). I also like to bake, mainly sweet breads, muffins and cakes. Best of all - a good thick soup on a cold Sunday afternoon. I wish we had some..sigh...my mother died when I was 10, and my grandmother died when I was 13, so we do not have any traditions that have been handed down - my sister and I are creating them now! My paella is considered the best around - everyone describes it as "killer paella." It took me a few tries to get it right, but it is my own recipe now and I'm really proud of it. When I was younger, I prepared individual baked alaskas and tripped going into a patio porch. The baked alaskas went flying and landed every which way. That's not so much a cooking tragedy as a coordination tragedy.