Oh, yeah! My Mother, absolutely! My Mom is a great cook. But, more importantly, she is an inventive cook with a love for trying new things. I was in college before I realized that there were people out there that had never tried BBQ, or stroganoff, or Chinese food, or vegetarian meals, etc etc. Having all of the different foods and cuisines at home made me curious to try different kinds of restaurants, too. So all of my food interest stems from Mom.

I’ll give my Dad honorable mention because he loves my Mom enough to eat everything she cooks without complaining (much). He is a hot beef sandwich kind of guy, but he has put up with (and has sometimes come to like) everything from tofu to kale soup, as long as she cooks it.