The way to a gal's heart is through her stomach. my philosophy. I've always been a better cook than my wives and girlfriends. But my girlfriend's pretty good too. I used to be a chef. Love to cook for family and friends. The saturday after every thanksgiving, I have a huge pot luck party. I cook for 3 days. last time: 2 wild turkeys, to domestics, 2 ducks, 2 pheasants, a butterflied leg of lamb - all done with different glazes/sauces made from scratch, cranberry sauce (I pick the cranberries), I roast and peel the chestnuts, make the cornbread for the stuffing from scratch. I make salads, pies, killer mashed potatoes and yams, killer gravy. My specialty is probably my apple pie: up to 25 apples, with the skin on, sliced paper thin and layers in to a dense puzzle of interlocking pieces in a frenzy of OCD passion with butter and a cinnamon/sugar/nutmeg concoction and lemon juice layered in as well, covered with a crust, and cooked slowly so that the skin melts away and you have a sort of butter hot apple sauce, super dense filling. It's the best. i usually use 5-6 different species of apples, to get a nice complex taste. There are no prepared foods or frozen meals in my house: we cook everything from scratch, and a lot of it comes from our organic garden.