Thanks to Rhiannon.

What is your first memory of baking/cooking on your own?
I was super into making pigs in a blanket when I was a kid, though my dad usually helped me. I wanted them to be extra authentic-looking, so I added marshmallow ears and snouts. I’m not sure where I got the idea that marshmallows, hotdogs, and biscuit dough would be a delicious combination, but they did look pretty cool.

Who had the most influence on your cooking?
My dad, for sure. He’s the same kind of cook I am: he’s not too hung up on precise measurements, and he goes more by gut feeling than any sort of specific plan. We very rarely had the exact same dish twice, because either he couldn’t remember how he did it the previous time or he just felt like doing it a different way.

My mom is an excellent baker, and she always goes really crazy with baking around the holidays. Try as I might, my oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are never as good as hers.

Do you have an old photo as “evidence” of an early exposure to the culinary world and would you like to share it?
I do, in fact. I requested a lot of cookbooks and cooking tools as wedding and shower gifts, and in the ones my mom gave me, she included pictures of me cooking as a little kid. I don’t have them with me at the moment, but if I remember, I’ll bring them to work tomorrow and scan them.

Mageiricophobia – do you suffer from any cooking phobia, a dish that makes your palms sweat?
Hm…I have conquered my fear of flaming food items by successfully igniting some brandy in a pan of pollo al ajillo. I guess I’m a little nervous about deep frying, because I almost never do it. I don’t own any specialized equpiment, so on the rare occasion that I deep fry anything, it’s just a pot of hot oil and a pair of crossed fingers.

What would be your most valued or used kitchen gadgets and/or what was the biggest letdown?
Valued: Mandoline. There is no better, faster way to get paper-thin onion slices. And since I’m a big crybaby when it comes to onions, the faster I can get it done, the better.
Letdown: I ended up with a whole bunch of stoneware baking pans. I use the pizza stone and that’s it.

Name some funny or weird food combinations/dishes you really like – and probably no one else!
I admit, I don’t have any super-weird favorite food combinations. I prefer things that are delicious, not gross. I like my cereal just barely damp with milk; if any pools on the bottom of the bowl, it’s too much. I had some black pepper strawberry ice cream once that was great. That might count as weird. I can tell you one combination that I don’t love: Fruit Roll-Ups and toothpaste. I don’t want to talk about how I know this.

What are the three eatables or dishes you simply don’t want to live without
I have to pick just three? OK, since summer produce is on my mind, I’ll say ripe, juicy peaches, and tomatoes straight from the garden. The third would have to be almonds.

Three quickies:
Your favorite ice-cream…
A nice, egg-free vanilla with vanilla bean specks, ideally served with fresh fruit. For fancy flavors, I’d go with cookie dough.
You will probably never eat…
I was going to say tripe, but never say never, you know?
Your own signature dish…
I do nice game hens with cornbread stuffing. Denny would vote for Mongolian beef.

Any other questions you’d like to add?
What dish would you love to tackle that you haven’t got to, so far?
I’d like to improve my skills with Indian and Southeast Asian cuisines.

What was your biggest cooking disaster?
One time I put some eggs on the stove to boil, then went into my bedroom, shut the door, and forgot about them. I heard a car alarm go off, and I was getting really annoyed that somebody wouldn’t go shut it off. Then I realized it was the smoke alarm.

The apartment smelled like burned eggs for a week. Ay yi yi.