Okay, so I don't know about you, but I have a reputation amongst my friends and family. A reputation as somewhat of a domestic goddess. That is to say, I'm known as someone who knows her way around a kitchen...someone who's good at all that stuff. You know, like cookies, casseroles and everything in between.

Now I don't have any professional training - okay, I have a series of cake decorating certificates - but that's something I took up as a hobby. What I mean is, I don't have a diploma in culinary arts, nor have I ever worked professionally in any foodservice industry (other than the obligatory stint at McDonald's as a teenager). So how to explain my kitchen know-how?

Well, other than hours and hours spent in front of the TV watching cooking shows, I seem to somehow have acquired the elusive cooking gene. I can look at a recipe and know how to manipulate it: well, I don't have cloves but I suppose nutmeg would taste much the same, or: hey, that would taste good with vanilla instead of cinnamon or: what if I added some cheddar to that? I also know how to taste a dish at a restaurant and then recreate it at home another time. Like the asparagus & blue cheese pasta dish I once had at an Italian restaurant that has since become one of my most-requested dishes!

Do you know what I mean? Do you just inherently know when it's okay to substitute butter for margarine or shortening for butter? Do you feel like you were born knowing how to make a white sauce? Do you know how much dried ginger to use if the recipe calls for 1 tbsp fresh ginger?

If you do, then you have it too. The cooking gene. But a whole segment of the population doesn't have it. They look at a recipe and if it says margarine but they have butter, they either pass on the recipe or they go and get margarine. Now I'm not saying they can't cook; they can. I firmly believe that if you can read you can cook. What I do mean is that they feel very nervous straying from recipes and trying new things. In one way, it's good. I mean, these people do not fall prey to the same culinary disasters that sometimes befall those of us who are more adventurous in our adaptations. On the other hand, they can miss out sometimes on some of the best opportunities.

Here's a case in point. My sister owns a stand mixer and a food processor. But she's never used either. Why? Because she's afraid to make a mistake; they're outside her culinary comfort zone. The result? She mixes cookie dough by hand (good biceps, though!) and chops with a knife and cutting board. She'll make recipes that call for sifting ingredients together in one bowl, creaming fats & sugars in another bowl and proofing yeast in a third, instead of throwing it all together in the food processor. She thinks pesto, hummus, guacamole and salsa are too difficult - if only she knew how easy they are to make in the food processor - talk about one-step recipes!

So, what's my point, you're wondering. Well, friends, today - in the spirit of giving - I'm calling on my fellow cooking gene-holders to reach out to someone who doesn't have it. Teach them how to use their food processors and other under-loved kitchen appliances, and then hold their hands while you encourage them to substitute shortening for butter in those Cuisinart Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies. Together we can make the world a better place!