Boy howdy, do I love to cook. For me, it’s practically a spiritual act. I use ingredients (as opposed to “products”) most of the time, shop from the Farmer’s Market all year ‘round, and have as much of a garden as I can during the local growing season.
I use recipes as suggestions and can’t follow them without alteration, but mostly I like to make dishes by surveying the available ingredients and seeing what they’re “asking” to be made into. (Lately I’ve been a little obsessed with calzone-style sandwiches – I make the dough and fill and bake. A little bit of savory filling can go a long way.) I’m also pretty darn good at omelets, soups, roast chicken and stuffing, and homemade pasta with homemade sauce.
My grandma taught me a little about cooking, just some basics (“this is a spatula, this is how to make crepes”) but I learned more while working at the natural food store – they had classes and such for the employees so we could better hawk the products. Heck, I even picked up cooking skills at a “survival” weekend by digging and cooking in a pit oven. Everything is a learning opportunity if you do it right.