Thankful for this sub

I just wanted to take a second and tell all of you how thankful I am for this subreddit. I found this after looking for budget cooking ideas on Google for this website which is a great resource on its own! I found all of the threads which had shared recipes and thought I could share a few of my own.<br><br>I have been cooking all of my life in an assortment of kitchens. The very first kitchen I ever cooked in had a wood burning stove and I am now in a kitchen with an induction stove so that gives you a good idea of all of the different experiences I have had. I've always been very good in the kitchen which is why my family always wants me to cook so I have always had to adapt to changing budgets and ingredients. I have worked in many different restaurants from casual dining to fine dining and all of the different types of restaurants I've worked in have all had different needs.<br><br>I remember the first time I had to learn to cook for a crowd. I was 11 and my uncle was getting married. I wanted to help which is the story of my life so I decided to make chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans. One batch which was supposed to feed 4 people was the first amount I tried. After that first batch, which was only 4 steaks, I realized that I was going to have to do a LOT of work to feed everyone so I decided to make the batches larger. The next batch was 8 then 12 and then 16. The last batch I did was 24. All of those steaks had to be pounded and breaded and fried. I had to do multiple batches of each step. The last batch I did, I pounded the steaks first, then all of the batches I had together at that time (something like 40) were breaded and fried. My aunt helped me stir up the gravy and my cousins helped me mash the potatoes. We had to do 4 batches of mashed potatoes and that was a ton! We had to do 2 batches of gravy and that was crazy. We were all amazed at how much goes into making all of that food for so many people. We were very thankful for the 2 refrigerators that we had! The last batch which was 24 steaks was breaded and had just enough room on the baking sheets to fit all 24. We had to do the last batch by hand because it was so many and we wanted them to all be the same size and we also wanted to make sure that they were cooked right. Doing the last batch by hand was so much faster and they all cooked correctly and evenly. <br><br>We were so amazed at how much food that was! We still ended up running out of a few of the sides and everyone had seconds. It felt really good to feed that many people and for so many to be able to have seconds. That was a great experience and helped me realize why I must always be aware of my surroundings and to work as a team. <br><br>Each one of you is so valuable and the recipes that you have shared are proof of that. I have been very impressed as I went through each thread. I have not been disappointed at all with your recipes and I have loved the resourcefulness. I have shared direct links to my blog because I have so many recipes and I didn't know how else to share as many as I have. I do hope that none of you have been offended. I wanted to share as much as I could to help everyone. I like to think that I am a relatively prolific writer and I have been very good at getting one of everything from each category. I decided to focus on basics. I wanted all of the areas of basic cooking to be covered and I tried to stay within the realm of easy and comfort food. I have found that the most people are looking for basics which is why I have focused on that. I am definitely not a perfect cook which is why I focus on the basics and I try not to go outside of my wheelhouse. I am very good at roasting and frying so I do cook a lot of that! I have had a lot of experiences in my life that has helped me be a great cook which does not mean that I always made good decisions. I would not have as much knowledge and wisdom if I had always made good decisions. I have learned a lot from my experiences and that is what I am trying to share. The hardest part of my experience which is also the most important is the importance of focus. I have never been the best cook and I doubt that I ever will be! I am a very good cook but that's where it ends. I am very good at a lot of things but there are always people who are better. That is okay! We are all great at different things! I am very good at some parts of cooking and not so great at others. I have always been very good at adapting and I have learned what works well and what doesn't. I think that is key when it comes to cooking. It also helps to enjoy it! I have loved cooking since I was little and I have always tried to do my best. Sometimes I had to work very hard to do well but I have always tried my best. I have made a lot of mistakes and each one has been a learning experience. I have always looked at cooking as an opportunity to relax while also feeding the people I love. I have always had a lot of gratitude for cooking and what it has brought into my life. <br><br>I wanted to write this post because I have been very impressed with this chamber and I wanted to say thanks. I have had a very good experience here and I wanted to express that. I think cooking is something that we can all be thankful for because of how important it is and how much it brings people together. I think that anyone who is a good cook and who loves to cook has learned that. That is what I wanted to share with all of you. Thank you and cook on!<br><br>Edit: I definitely did not mean to offend. Please accept my sincerest apologies.