I was tagged by Stel and Ting to do this cooking meme originally started by Nicky of Delicious Days, so I’m complying now before old age or amnesia hits! (Click here for the definition of “meme” — I was going to summarize it, but found that even memetics themselves are confused as to what a meme REALLY is. Meme schmeme. Who cares?)

So here we go:

What is your first memory of baking/cooking on your own?

When I was 8 or 9 I tried to make my mom’s sauteed green beans, the only vegetable dish I ate at the time. I had no idea what went into it so I boiled and salted it. When my parents came home I surprised them, and they applauded my efforts but thought I meant to make it a salad, so they promptly turned it into one, which I didn’t touch:(.

Who had the most influence on your cooking?

There have been so many (too many?) at different stages of my life. I’m most grateful for my mom who taught me all the basics (cutting up chicken, cleaning fish, etc.) — by teaching me the yucchy stuff from the get go she probably paved the way for me to easily transition from a mindset of “cooking is work” to “cooking is play”. After that were my Lolo (grandpa) and my aunts and uncles (all 20+ of them!).

Shakey’s Pizza was a major influence, no kidding. I came to the US and discovered it wasn’t popular here so that in itself was a major motivating force to learn how to replicate foods that I miss.

Then there’s the hubby, who doesn’t cook (except for great spaghetti!) but was raised by gourmands (his mom once owned a restaurant), and our international group of friends who were all foodies — though we never called ourselves that. There were about 15 of us from different countries and we’d constantly eat out and find reasons to cook for each other.

After we got married it was the chefs on PBS — Mollie Katzen, etc. who became “my friends”, esp. while pregnant and in bed with nothing to do but watch TV and read cookbooks.

The first cookbook I bought, though, was Julia Child’s “The Way to Cook”. I must have cooked 80% of the recipes in that book and gained confidence that way.

(I first encountered the name “Julia Child” in high school in — of all places — a romantic novel. This guy married an heiress who he assumed didn’t know how to cook (obviously they didn’t get to know each other very well before the wedding) and he was putting her down by saying “I have to remember I didn’t marry Julia Child” or some such nonsense. Turns out she took classes at Le Cordon Bleu. But that left me forever wondering “Who’s Julia Child, is she maybe some kind chef or food personality?” Little did I know she was *the* food personality here at the time.)

By the time we had our first child the floodgates had completely opened and I’ve been powerless to stop the flow… although my thinking is probably more influenced by the traditional than the nouvelle cuisine chefs, whatever nouvelle cuisine is — I find that most dishes pegged as such are really just variations on the basics taught by the masters long ago.

Do you have an old photo as “evidence” of an early exposure to the culinary world and would you like to share it?

Nope, sorry.

Mageiricophobia – do you suffer from any cooking phobia, a dish that makes your palms sweat?

After 20+ years of cooking and so many disasters and catastrophes, nothing really scares me anymore. There are things that frustrate me that I can’t consistently turn out perfectly (like frosting cakes), but I’m really most adventurous in the kitchen (too adventurous and ambitious for my own good sometimes, and I have the scars to prove it).

What would be your most valued or used kitchen gadgets and/or what was the biggest letdown?

Most valued: My Electrolux DLX mixer, my Wusthof knives and my cutting board. If i’m staying anywhere for a week or more they have to come with me.

Biggest letdown?

2: a flour sifter (the one you have to squeeze) — took forever to sift flour and by the time you were done your arm and wrist muscles were fried.
a cookie press/gun from Williams-Sonoma, although it could be that my cookie dough was the problem.

Name some funny or weird food combinations/dishes you really like and probably no one else.

I don’t know, I’m not so smug anymore. I used to think *I’m the only one who would dare to eat this or think of combining these”, but Google (and now the food blog world) has done much to humble me. I always have to say, “Hey, he/she’s cooked that/eaten that too?!” Sadly, I’ve found I’m not that unique LOL.

What are the three eatables or dishes you simply don’t want to live without?

Cheese. Eggs. Rice. Unfortunately, some members of my family are allergic to cheese and eggs to varying degrees, so I have to curtail my consumption (and have some dark chocolate instead).

3 quickies:

favorite ice cream – chocolate anything except cookie-dough-like — blecch!

you will probably never eat fugu

signature dish
Oh my, I’m afraid I don’t have one. I guess the most requested thing would have to be my Black Forest cake.

tag 3 people

I hope these people haven’t been tagged yet, but I’d like to tag 3 other Stephanies (has anyone ever wondered why in the blogging world are there so many Stephanies? I even have a post on draft right now about it!): I was going to tag Stephanie of Dispensing Happiness but I find she’s been tagged already, so I’m tagging Stephanie Rosenbaum, the Pie Queen Stephanie Herman of The Daily Vegetable and a third, Stephanie Martin of Spritely Food. I hope they keep this meme going!