On cooking:

My mother is still a little suspicious of my cooking ability. But I am, in fact, a perfectly competent cook, able to make simple things without a recipe and complicated things with a recipe, though I don't claim to be Julia Child. Some stuff I've learned over the past few years:

• Use good olive oil. Almost everything tastes better cooked in olive oil rather than vegetable oil, and good olive oil is well worth the money. I use Greek, since I think you get better olive oil for your money, but it seems that few people agree with me. It's OK, if too many people discover my secret, Greek olive oil will get more expensive.
  
• Similarly, use good spices. DON'T buy that pepper that comes in the tin; you want fresh-ground. I'm more ambivalent about using freshly crushed salt. Use fresh garlic, it's cheap and is easier to cook with. Other than that, buy Penzeys. It's cheaper than most grocery store spice and much better.
  
• Don't be afraid to mess with recipes. If you have something that uses oregano, try putting in some lemon zest too. Put in extra pepper or garlic if you really like them. Try whatever you're cooking while you're cooking it, since it's often easier to fix stuff then than later.
  
• Don't overcook your vegetables. This is a common mistake of steamed vegetables. Green beans should still be crunchy (really about 2 minutes in boiling water is plenty), carrots should maintain their structural integrity, etc. Using fresh vegetables helps with this too.
  
• Don't be afraid to try new things, even if you've disliked them in the past. I discovered in Greece that feta cheese can be a wonderful thing, even if the stuff you buy in American supermarkets resembles wax more than anything else.
  
• But also, learn what flavors you like. I like pepper, lemon, oregano, and look for recipes that include these. I can throw in other things if I want to be adventurous.
  

These are just sort of basic ways to make the food you cook taste good. If you're broke like me, you end up cooking for yourself a lot, so you might as well enjoy it.