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Why Julia Child naturally! Didn't start until she was in her 30s, but never stopped learning after that.

I adore Ina Garten from Barefoot Contessa, she is always so happy to be cooking for her family and friends!

my Mom...at least with baking!

Ina.

Was just in Loaves and Fishes this weekend - Lobster Salad is priced at $100 a pound. Looked to be the same as Ina's (found in Parties!).

I love Alton although I rarely make his stuff. I love Ina and I make her recipes. I love Rachael because she is so joyul and she makes dishes that work for a family. I love Giada and Tyler and Bobby. I love every member of the congregations who turned out my collection of church cookbooks for the last 60 years. People who cook for others are nurturers and we need more of them! Anyone who can give me new cooking ideas is my mentor.

Well I have to admit my original culinary mentor was Jeff Smith, the Frugal Gourmet.... I will not even pretend to understand the controversy that ended his career, or to guess at his guilt or innocence.... but man, the guy LOVED food!

He really opened my horizons as far as ethnic and local food traditions, and he really understood the role food plays in our cultures. He made everything sound appetizing and accessible. It was because of him that I was making things like Pork Bao, Greek Feta Shrimp, Egg Rolls, Baklava, Pakoras and Halushki in my very early 20's - he made me think that I could...

I guess his "mentor" spot has somewhat since been filled by Alton Brown - I learn a lot of technical detail from Alton... but I still refer to my Frugal Gourmet books often... and definitely anytime I want a really special dish.

All the fantastic food bloggers out there who aren't classically trained, but come with yummy and delicious inspire me to get in my kitchen and cook.

My dad. He's a chef ... started out as a janitor in a butcher shop when he was like 18 and worked his way up until he oversaw 7 restaurants at 4 different property locations serving anything from counter-top diner fare to fine dining.

Ina.

My mom! :)

My mom... she's passed down the secrets to all of our delicious family recipes. I know one day when its my turn to host all the holidays I'll be able to do it because of her.

my dad :)

Alton Brown. I love to hear the science behind the cooking.

My mom!

grandma and mom- i'm lucky to have been so well raised!

My mom, grandfather, and grandmother. The ones in that list who are still alive regularly get calls from me asking how to make X with Y.

Julia Child and Alton Brown. a. for science and technique. b. for not taking themselves too seriously.

While my parents taught me the basics of cooking, my brother is the one who really opened my eyes to better cooking.

Marcella Hazan. I don't cook a lot of Italian, really, but her books all contain such solid technique foundations

Alton Brown

My mom for cookies, Mark Bittman for everything else. Before I read "How to Cook Everything," all I could make was grilled cheese sandwiches.

This is going to sound lame, really lame, but my mentor would have to be my best friend Rick. After a childhood spent devouring bland food that had neither salt nor pepper applied to it, let alone any spices, we felt like we were moving from black and white to color when we emptied the contents of our spice cabinet into a batch of ground meat for hamburgers about fifteen years ago. That was my culinary awakening.

My mother for her enthusiasm for throwing party extravaganzas, and Julia Child for actual recipes. The two mentors merged in the last years of my mother's life as I cooked some of Julia's recipes for her--and she loved them!

for cooking, Molly Katzen; for baking, Marion Cunningham

I can't say I ever really had a culinary mentor; I mostly taught myself to cook as a teenager when my mom was working (so she couldn't hassle me about making a mess of her kitchen). Throughout everything I'd have to say that the best source of inspiration has always been a great recipe, no matter who wrote it.

My mentor would be whoever's recipe I'm experimenting with at the moment, whether it's a famous chef or some stranger who left a scribbled recipe in a cookbook that I bought used.

Julia Child is (was) my mentor. Also I give Ina Garten a HIGH FIVE in this category as well.

My Mom because she made it look so easy...7 days a week for 7 people...and always delicious.

My aunt!

My Gran and my Mum, no doubt.

Alton Brown has taught me so much!

my mom

Molly Wizenberg (aka Orangette) -- her blog has led me to try cooking all kinds of things that I would have never attempted otherwise.

Russ Parsons writes wonderful culinary articles for the Food section of the LA Times. I've been inspired over and over again!

my mother

My momo - she wasn't all that into cooking when she was working, but since she's retired, she's become an excellent cook!

My mother, grandmother and wife

My parents. My mom is a great "southern cook"..She taught me so much...But my dad loves to try new things..He taught me to love to try new recipes. I love recipe books and read them like novels...

My room mate in graduate school. She was from Brasil. She was much more sophisticated than anyone else I knew and had been exposed to every kind of food. She had never cooked, but she was fearless in the kitchen.

Wow! I hate to be repetitive, but I own tons of cookbooks, and the ones I have used the most are Ina Garten's. She basically gave me the courage to go further, and become the cook I am today.

My mom of course.

Dorie Greenspan, for I am in love with Baking From My Home to Yours.

I guess I'm a local girl: Alice Waters and Thomas Keller
(though I also can't get enough of Mario Batali's concoctions)

My culinary mentor is Kevin Rathbun and Drew Kirkland. I have started staging at Rathbun's Steak for free a couple of times a month over the last year and I have learned so much. There has never been anything, but an eagerness for me to learn from either men. At no time have I ever seen anything but a supportive and prideful working relationship among the members of the kitchen staff and front of house. A truly enjoyable experience.

My grandmother. She was a home economics teacher for 33 years and loved to cook. She taught me everything she knows.

my mother no doubt

All of my Ina cookbooks are dog-eared! I started with Graham Kerr, PBS
cooking shows and when the Food Network came into play I have never looked back. I love the relationship Ina has with her husband Jeffrey, and how
she looks forward to his coming home on Friday nights.

I'd have to say Sandra Lee. Her culinary style fits my lifestyle perfectly. I can't say that I've been disappointed with any of her recipes that I've tried.
gkstratos@ yahoo.com

If I have a mentor it would be Paula Deen-the butter lady. Her cooking style fits me and my family and she is great fun besides.

my culinary mentor used to be, unfortunately, my mom! Ha ha! She never made anything homemade and set off the fire alarm quite often...but she's the greatest! (not at cooking)...so I've been on a mission to cook better since January. Right now, it's that lady on the food network who does meals for her family and shows how to do like three in one episode? Don't know her name...she has kids and likes to do "meals in a bag" and stuff...

Ina Garten I adore her.

It's all about Paula Deen. Bless her deep fried soul.

My mother :)

My Uncle was.

As someone above noted, whomever created the recipe I'm currently working on.

My oldest friend who is also the best cook I know!

Mark Bittman - he makes it all seem both doable and worth the effort.

Mario Batali and my mom.

My mother

mom

Julia Child for sure. When I was a toddler I had no interest or Seasame Street or Mr. Rogers - all I wanted to watch was Julia Child (and the guy who did the paintings on PBS with the big hair).

Nigella Lawson. She's just so... relaxed.

Like many, my mother first got me in the kitchen.

Gramma...

She had a saying, no matter who dropped by close to mealtime

"We got plenty"

She was a child/teen of the Depression in the hills of Eastern Tennessee whose mother died when Gramma was 3. She lived a hard life, but found so much joy in the kitchen.

No matter how sleep deprived I may get preparing for markets, no matter how much pressure I may put on myself to get a few more loaves of bread baked, I find joy and therapy in the kitchen.

And I never turn down an opportunity to play host to large groups of people - always repeating "We got plenty!"

I thought it would sound sappy if I said "my mother," but many others obviously had the same experience. My mother cooked fabulous food. Many of my friends in our small South Georgia town had never heard of the things she made. Hollandaise sauce was a mystery to lots of folks in the days when I grew up. Not to my mother. She also made her own mayonnaise but I refused to eat it. I loved that stuff in a jar from the supermarket. But I did love virtually every thing else she made.

my love of the kitchen and good food has been most recently attributed to two things: the absolute shocking number of food blogs i read and my local farmers' market. nature's bounty + the inspiration of others = a significant upturn in my culinary abilities.

my Dad...........he loved to experiment with new flavors......he always let me "help" and my Mom had to clean up after us!

My Italian grandma. She was a wonderful cook, and taught me everything I know!

My mother could make great dinners out of next to nothing plus she was always baking something wonderful!!!!

My dad - he's been a chef ever since he started working (with the odd job thrown in for good measure). He can create anything from the standby hamburger to the most attention to detail creations. He studied at the ACIA in New York and is one of the best cooks I know!

My mom who dies early from breast cancer but taught me everything possible.

My mother was my culinary mentor. She always managed to put a good meal on the table, 7 days a week. She made the best pies I have ever eaten, with the lightest, flakiest crust. She passed away when I was 21, and my biggest regret is that I didn't get to spend enough time in the kitchen learning from her.

our local chefs at various restaurants around the city that offer "cooking classes" and show how easy restaurant level cuisine can be made at home.

My late husband was my culinary mentor. He was a graduate of the CIA and had worked as a professional chef, so he knew all the best tips and tricks.

My mom taught me most of what I know!

My husband who is a great cook.

Ina Garten, because her food is thoughtful and realistic. I like the idea of really enjoying serving normal people - the chef mentality of "everything but the squeal" kinda scares me. Ina makes it okay to want refined comfort food that everyone I know is happy about eating.

Probably a combination of my mom and various magazines and food blogs, including SE! My mom, because she's the ultimate farm girl--knows everything about gardening, freezing produce, canning. She's a great baker and a fantastic cook. However, her food isn't exactly my style--lots of comfort food cooking. I tend to like cleaner flavors, herbs, and I like to experiment. So while I learn a lot from my mom in terms of basic technique, I get many of my recipes online. But I'll say that I've never had an apple pie better than my mom's!

my mother definitely. nowadays my boyfriend. we cook together, learn together, etc.

my grandmother for sure

My mother....oh how I love her homecooked meals and would love to be able to cook like her.

I've been learning from Martha for years, and her information via tv show, books, and magazines has influenced my cooking more than any other source. And, I learned hospitality and generosity at a young age from my Mom and grandmothers.

My grandmother...my mom's mom. She always had food in the house...lots of food...and all homemade. But is was simple and delicious...'comfort food' and I now have the same thing. I am at my happiest when the fridge is full of homemade stuff and when the house smells great from cooking...just like my grandmother. :)
THANKS for great contest...a wonderful prize!

The Good Cook from Time-Life books

My grandma. She could cook anything and taught me a lot.

My mom first and foremost, but I also love Rachel Ray !!

the usual, but it's true - my mother and grandmother. We all cooked together, often, and you do learn by doing...
I am grateful.

Rachel Ray, Ina Garten, and my nephew, Seth. He was a sous-chef in Mario's Supper Club in Seattle at 25 or so, then left to help run the family vineyard. But he still makes amazing food for the family, and if I'm lucky, now I get to be HIS sous-chef at Thanksgiving :-)

Years ago, when i was a post-college grad living by myself, I would turn on foodtv after work every day and that channel pretty much taught me how to cook. I could barely boil water before then and now I consider myself a decent cook and it all started with y mentor, foodtv!

My mother who loved to cook. And my father who loved to bake.

I would have to say Michael Ruhlman really got me to take cooking to the next level.

First and foremost, my mom. But, Food Network gave me the "you can do it" push into my own kitchen.

My mom. :)

Amanda Hesser. I read "Cooking for Mr. Latte" and it inspired me to try so many different things, like making my own mayonnaise--she made it sound so easy, and it was!

my mom, although I can't make any of her dishes because her recipe's are all in her head!

LOVE ......Ina Garten's food !!!!!!

My grandmother! She could cook just about anything.

The queen of butter, Paula Deen

My husband's grandmother was the best!

My mom

This is hard, I would have to say my husband.

my mother, Julia Child and chef Franz Auer of Hilton Head Island, SC..all great cooks and fantastic role models.

Food blogs were mine, though now that I like cooking I talk with my mom about it more. She didn't teach me as a kid or anything, but learn things now.

My mentors were first, my Mother, and recently, Bobby Flay. He gives a good example of tweaking a recipe every Throwdown!

....my mother

Alice Waters!

Jacques Pepin -- he is IT is far as I'm concerned.

Strangely enough, it's my son. I've always only followed recipes, but he has taught me to just get in the kitchen and experiment. Sad, but tru

My mom of course! Ina Garten though would be next- I love her ease in the kitchen, simplicty with a flair of effortless elegance.

everyone on the food network

My mom was a great cook and I'm glad she taught me how.

My mother taught me to improvise and be creative but my father taught me to never compromise a well-balanced meal.

Alton Brown, for sure. I haven't tried his recipes, but his information gives me more confidence to wing it!

Both my parents! Always a competition to who would make it the best!

Julia Child. I loved watching her. She made mistakes in her kitchen, too, and let us know that it was ok. She was just as charming in person.

Although she can be annoying, I'd have to say Rachael Ray. I really started cooking after watching those original 30 min meals and alot of my everyday recipes are based on hers. Also love Alton Brown, but I never really make too many of his recipes.

Who else but Nanny Alexander. She has a deft touch at pastry cooking although she's never had any formal training, can make fruit cake something you really want to eat and thinks rum improves every dessert. I grew up in her kitchen, eating her homemade pickles and lovely garden vegetables and listening to her talk about "way back when". I ate simple yet delicious soups, tender buttermilk biscuits, chicken with airy herbed dumplings and the best fudge ever eaten anywhere. She's in her 80's now and still owns the kitchen.

My grandmother - simple, homemade, soul satisfying and traditional food.

In the beginning,as a teenager, it was the Frugal Gourmet, Jeff Smith. Now I plan my weekends around The Splendid Table, and try to recreate Lynne Rosetto Kasper's magic on a regular basis.

Alice Waters - it was because of her I really got into food in the first place. Her recipes are like listening to a friend tell you how to make it :)

All the great cookbook authors who put in so much effort to teach those of us at home how to become wonderful cooks!

Jacques Pepin- when I first started cooking I read one of his cookbooks and it taught me that things don't have to be fancy to taste good- simple is often better.

I'm Italian. I'd love to say my mother but my mother's not much of a cook so much of my italian cooking is modelled on giada's Everyday italian show.

martha stewart

My grandma, she made 40 different kinds of cookies at Christmas, not to mention the 10 different kinds of candies and always the Norwegian specialties of lefse and Krumkkakka. But I loove Paula Deen, not only does she make it easy, but it's fun to be in the kitchen.

My mentor is my mother-in-law. She is a wonderful cook and she has imparted my husband's favorites so I can feed him happy.

My father. He raised us alone and worked all day and came home every night to cook a great italian meal

My mother cooked every night and every other chance she got, so I got my love for cooking from her.

I didn't have a culinary mentor growing up because no one ever cooked in my house, I was a self-taught cook. I really learnt a lot from Rachael Ray, admittedly - I didn't even know how to cook pasta when I first started out!

Mom!

My mom!

Ok, she's not a real chef, but I really never cooked a meal outside of a boxed meal until I started watching Rachel Ray. Cooking in 30 minutes sounds great to me when I have very little time.

My mother never let me in the kitchen because she hated messes. So it was up to my husband to teach me to cook. His mother was not a good cook, but his Granny was a "Paula" and he learned from her. I learned his favorite dishes, then with the help of cook books and TV shows, I branched out into other foods. I am currently a big fan of Paula and Ina. My motto when it comes to good food: Never trust a skinny cook. LOL Thank you for the opportunity to win!

My grandma is definitely my culinary mentor. She taught me the fundamentals and I wouldn't be the kind of cook I am today without her.

my grandma passed down all of our family recipes.

shortie20659@yahoo.com

It would have to be my Dad. He was a catering chef when I was younger and I just learned along the way.

My neighbor, Nadine, is always a foodie inspiration. I love cooking, but if I am in a slump or need an ingredient, I can count on Nade to have a solution.

I love cooking and searching cookbooks for different recipes, but have lots of favorite ones, too, passed on from my family and friends. Thanks for having the contest!

My parents first off...then (don't laugh), my inspiration was Justin Wilson and Leah Chase but we're talking a long time ago. Can't tell I'm Southern gal, can ya? Nowadays, Ina, Paula, Bobby, Mario...Can't name them all. Thanks Food Network!

My Italian Grandmother

My mother - absolutely! She taught us to be fearless in the kitchen and I still call her sometimes when faced with an unfamiliar cut of meat on sale.

I did learn from Julia Child and other TV chefs over time, but without the give-and-take of a true mentoring relationship, I can't count any of them.

Definitely my mom!

My dad and mom.

rachel ray :)

rachel ray :)

My husband

Congrats to our winners, gillsnthrills, laralin2266, pwhite98270, tcjanes, and Sisterrae. Winners have been notified by email and also appear on our Contest Winners page. Thanks to everyone who entered!