Pati D'Eliseo
I started cooking when I was about 10 years old. My first recipe was Spanish Rice: a casserole dish made with ground beef and stewed tomatoes. I think it was some sort of Americanized paella. Anyway, my mom would get out all the ingredients for me (I think there were a total of 5) and I would be allowed to make it. Everyone in my family would make comments about how delicious my Spanish Rice was (in reality it tasted the same as my mom's), but that experience is what inspired me to continue down the culinary trail. Today, my interests include Asian, Mediterranean, Eastern European, and of course, American. Cooking is therapeutic for me. I can turn off my mind and just start working on something I think will taste good. I don't normally use recipes literally unless I am making something very traditional or specific. Even then, I 'Pati-ize' it in some way. I use cookbooks more as reference.