This is something I am eternally grateful to my mother for teaching us. I am no Michelin chef, but I have managed to develop a few "signature" dishes that friends and family rave about. It's pretty easy too; it's actually pretty hard to fuck up a dish in such a way that it's inedible.

There's something really relaxing about cooking -- the ingredients changing the overall look and texture as they cook, how you can alter the flavour entirely with just a tweak of the spices... and the best part is that you (almost always) get to eat it. And there is something very calming in the knowledge that you can make something edible if not delicious with just a few inexpensive ingredients.