I am 28 years old, and in the past 10 years or so, my passion has changed from baking to cooking. My favorite things to make are those that you can take something ordinary (chicken, steak, hamburger, veggies etc..) and make it extraordinary by adding your own personal touches. Experimenting with Mexican dishes, recipes that my mom and grandma used to make, anything that makes me feel like I've "created" something. More of a good memory than a tradition...My grandma lost her sense of smell and taste due to a stroke about 10 years ago. From then on, whenever we visit her, I am her "taste tester" when making dinner. Getting my husband to eat and like vegetables (see creamy broccoli casserole, garlic green beans, bacon feta beans on this site), finally getting my sweet potato fries to "crunch", learning to change recipes to make them a lot more healthy and "guilt free". Pancakes. Homemade. Boxed. Whatever. Burned on the outside, runny in the center. Never fails. I once put a peeled hard boiled egg in the microwave because it wasn't quite done. Note to self: Don't do that again. I was standing in front of the micro when the egg exploded and the door flew open and smacked me right in the nose! I had egg ALL over the floor, the stovetop, countertop. What a mess!