Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Butter, or creamy peanut butter and grape jelly.

Once in a while, I will make a sandwich of Boar's Head ham - sliced thinly - some American or blended cheeses, and a sprinkle of garlic & herb Mrs. Dash....warmed in the microwave so that the cheese is melted.

I used to peel the cheese off my slice of pizza and eat that first, but now I eat it from the point to the crust. I don't eat meatballs with the pasta, I wait until I am done with the noodles. Then, I have meatballs, other meat, bread to dip in sauce, and salad.

My mom's homemade sauerbraten with gravy, wide egg noodles, and potato pancakes. Dipping crusty bread into the gravy was, and is, pure heaven, along with everything else to taste.

Pumpkin Carrot Soup

1 stick butter
2 onions
2 1/2 cups peeled, cut pumpkin pieces
2 carrots
1 tbs curry
1 tbs Chinese five-spice powder
1/4 cup Thai chili sauce
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 quart heavy cream
4-5 shakes black pepper
1 cup sour cream
Dill garnish
Pot of chicken stock

Heat up a large pot with a stick of butter. Add the onions next so that they'll cook at the bottom of the pot and brown a little. Cut some carrots into chunks big enough to go into a food processor and add those to the pot. Add some peeled, cut pumpkin chunks to the pot with a heaping tablespoon of curry, Chinese five-spice powder and lots of black pepper. Last, add your chicken stock (or water base). Now, boil your soup for about two hours. Pureé the mixture in a food processor to your desired thickness and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, while you are heating your soup, add sour cream, Thai chili sauce, Dijon mustard and a little salt and pepper into a bowl and mix. Pour a quart of heavy cream into your soup while it's heating and add some salt. Pour the soup into individual servings (if your soup is still too thick, try adding some water), then add a dollop of the sour cream mixture and a handful of dill garnish to each bowl.

Stuff happens. You'll eat better at your next meal. Best of luck, as always!

My mom makes meatloaf with ground beef, usually 80/20. Some parsley, breadcrumbs, and an egg, shaped together to form a loaf. Then, my mom would add a small can of tomato sauce to the top. She used to use a loaf pan, but she gets a cookie sheet now and makes the loaf free-form style. When I make meatloaf, I like to use the mix of beef, pork, and veal. I add pepper, salt, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, and sometimes the Garlic & Herb blend of Mrs. Dash. I'd follow the rest of my mom's recipe from that point.

My favorite is chocolate and bacon. When I was little, I would dip Doritos into blueberry yogurt. I've also had popcorn with ranch dressing.

Stephanie Izard's recipe for macaroni & cheese:

Macaroni and Four Cheeses with Apples and Bacon Breadcrumbs

My first cookbook was something that I helped to create in grade school as well. I shared my grandma's recipe for ravioli and cheese balls.

My first gourmet cookbook I've purchased was The Joy of Cooking.

We've had square pizza and the peanut butter & jelly sandwiches wrapped in plastic. Once a week, the caf served french fries - people pooled their money for that. I particularly liked the beef barley soup and pizza.

I did get a card with a list of certain foods. Bacon wasn't on the list specifically, but I wanted to be cautious. Chocolate wasn't on the list, but it is a dark brown food and I would think it'd stain my teeth.

@Robbo: the book is called The Practical Cookbook - A book of Economical Recipes by Margaret W. Howard. Her title was listed as Head of Domestic-Science Department - High School of Practical Arts, Boston, Massachusetts. There is a stamp dated March 31, 1923 - Property of the NYC Board of Education. I can only surmise that this was my grandma's book for home ec. class. Pasta was called "macaroni" - listed under the heading starch. Here is actual text from the book:

Macaroni

Source. Made in Italy and America, from wheat flour containing much gluten. Spaghetti and vermicelli are forms of macaroni, also Italian paste, letters, etc., for soups.
Food Value. Contains protein and starch.
Cost. Macaroni, 15 cents per pound. 4 c. = 1 lb.

General Directions. Break macaroni in inch pieces, wash, and cook in the boiling salted water until very tender (45-60 mins.), stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Drain thoroughly and pour cold water over the macaroni to keep pieces from sticking together.

You should check your local community college for adult learning courses. I've taken a cake decorating class at Brookdale - Freehold campus. I believe it was $85 for two sessions.

You can also check out Michael's Crafts - they host Wilton classes.