Cooking

I started cooking when I started dating James. I did have an early introduction to "throwing things together" by an ex, but the real stuff started with James. I wanted to impress him. I knew he loves food, so what better way to win a man's heart?
I think I started with the basics - pasta, salads, simple meat dishes. I found that I might not be Jamie Oliver, but I'm pretty good. So my cooking evolved until I started to get better at knowing what went together without having to use a recipe.
Now I enjoy more complicated dishes, full meals and... baking. If cooking is an art, baking is an exact science. I'd ruined so many things so many times in the past that I never tried my hand as an adult... but since I'd developed a new confidence through cooking, I added baking to my list of skills.
I pushed the envelope last August with a layered chocolate and peanut butter cake with fondant icing. It was challenging but it makes you feel so accomplished when the image of what's in your head comes out successfully.
James' dad is an amazing cook and baker and for Christmas a couple of years back, bought me a lifetime membership to Rouxbe, possibly one of the best online cooking sites I have ever used. They have an amazing collection of instructional and factual videos as well as recipes that have been tried and tested in their professional test kitchens. They also actually respond to member comments and questions so if you don't understand something or seem to have problems, you can get someone who knows what they're doing to help out.