I spent a few years when I was younger learning to cook better... pretty much immersed myself in it when not working. Watched a LOT of cooking videos, the entire Good Eats series, and more. Never made anything especially cool, just got pretty good at sauce work, and understanding how some ingredients and techniques come together. I might have gone to cooking/culinary school in the evenings, but never did well in formalized education environments.
The fairly irony is I now pretty much have to eat very simply, Diabetes, FODMAP and Histamine Intolerance. I eat something I shouldn't at least once a week and usually pay for it for at least a day after.
Similar story, I used to be really into cooking and baking.
I still have photos of sourdough bread, pizza, croissants, cakes, elaborate dishes...
And then I started having weird health issues (auto immune crap, aka doctor speech for "we have no clue what we're talking about but you're screwed") and debilitating stomach pain.
I was on a 95% vegan diet and I switched to paleo, which seemed to help a bit but still caused occasional pain.
After suffering for 2 years and tired of doctors not finding a solution, I tried the carnivore diet.
I pretty much cook the same steak every day and then some eggs or some more meat.
If I eat vegetables I get the taco-bell treatment.
If I eat too many carbs over a short period of time I feel bloated and my gallbladder is not happy.
Fruit is ok but I'm not a fan of getting too much sugar into me.
That's how I eat most of the time... eggs, meat and greens are pretty safe, but when I venture out of that box, I definitely pay for it. I like to say, "I like food, food's the one that declared war on me." When people question it.
The fairly irony is I now pretty much have to eat very simply, Diabetes, FODMAP and Histamine Intolerance. I eat something I shouldn't at least once a week and usually pay for it for at least a day after.