@Keres
I'm really not that great at cooking but I read cookbooks and make an effort to get better at techniques. I come from a Filipino-American background, so both types of cuisine are normal to me. Some favorite cookbooks I've had the chance to read are Isa Chandra Moskowitz' Vegan with a Vengeance & Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa series, America's test kitchen family cookbook, Todd Wilbur's restaurant copycat books, Nigella Lawson & many others I can't remember. :D I'm a college student, but I don't live in a dorm or anything so I have a kitchen to experiment in. Foods of the RAMEN persuasion are out of my diet and will hopefully stay that way. I try to make things from scratch since I am semi-purist when it comes to cooking. I cook because I'm sick of fast food and how unhealthy it helps to make the world, both in people's health and direct or side effects on the planet. Some ingredients in processed foods which piss me off are hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, a high sodium content, sugar substitutes, etc. I typically won't buy a product if I know it contains any of these and try not to buy any of that manufacturers' other products either. Sometimes I don't feel too good about eating at restaurants because of what could be in food either.