What's Going On In The Kitchen?

   Last night I had dinner with three women.  Four women.  All in our forties.  Intelligent. Independent. Interesting.  During dinner, which was tacos that my friend prepared, we began talking about cooking... how much we cook and what we do cook.  Let me tell you, there was a great deal of variation ranging from not at all to cooking meals all of the time.  This got me thinking about why we do what we do in the kitchen. 
   Now, we are less than a week away from Thanksgiving - a holiday celebrated in the United States during which many of us (if we are so lucky) gather with family or friends and eat ourselves silly.  
   I am particularly lucky because my stepmother prepares the Thanksgiving meal. She is a phenomenal cook.  She approaches cooking in a scientific and structured way.   She is super organized and meticulous.  She perfects dishes that I would not dream of taking on.  And while I greatly admire these traits, this approach actually make me quite nervous. 
   I suppose our behavior in the kitchen must in some way mimic our personalities.  I mean, if you are organized in every other facet of your life why wouldn't you be organized in the kitchen.  And if you are a disaster in your life then clearly you should be a disaster in kitchen.  Makes sense right?  Perhaps.  I can tell you that I fall somewhere in between. And I am okay with that.
   But this does not answer the question of why some of us cook and some of us do not?  What compels us to do what we do?  I know for me, cooking and baking is something I observed and sometimes participated in as a child.  My family used food from our garden, which was crazy big.  My mother went through a stage where she canned everything, made jam, made pickles and yogurt (yuck).  My parents had a subscription to Mother Earth News, shopped at the coop,  wore overalls and pretty much were half-ass hippies for a while.  When my stepmother came into the picture, we became foodies. 
   I believe my interests in the kitchen fall somewhere in between.  I love to cook for other people and myself.  I love to create.  I try to use local fare whenever I can.  I am not interested in making all of the most complicated dishes. I am a good cook.  I am a great pie maker.
   So on this Sunday, less than a week before Thanksgiving,  I ask you, my lovely blog reader, what do you do in your kitchen?   What do you like to cook or bake?  And why do you do it that way?