Simply in the fwiw department.

1. Nothing like a good, simple, basic cookbook, then learning from mistakes.

2. My own son, soon to be 23 years old, learned to like cooking and to not be afraid of cooking from his young experiences with me in the kitchen, and my acceptance and personal observations about any particular dish once served - whether the result was good, bad or indifferent.

3. He is a pretty good cook, and I take some credit for that. But once he had enough age on him, plus knowledge to experiment and learn on his own, we could no longer cook together because I could not keep my mouth shut when I needed to do so.