I LOVE to cook and learned from my mom and grandmother at a very early age. Mom went to work when I was about 12 or 13 and my sister and I shared the duties of cooking for a family of five. Home-Economics (basically teaching you how to be a housewife) was mandatory in high school back in those days and I LOVED the cooking classes.

The microwave is merely a nice accessory to my kitchen. I use it mainly for cooking vegetables which is does very well and very quickly. I don't buy frozen, prepared or packaged foods, preferring to cook fresh food "from scratch" and I live alone. I prefer my cooking over anything that comes in frozen boxes. It really doesn't take too long if you know what you're doing in the kitchen.