I learned to cook eggs in probably 3rd grade.  That is all I ever cooked until I got married at 23. My mom did breakfast lunch and dinner.  My dad did the bbq.  When I was in Boy Scouts, I made mac and cheese.  I added the cheese to the noodles before pouring out the water.  I ended up with Mac.  Got married and learned how to bbq and cook just about anything that had a recipe.  I don't think I cook the same thing the same way twice.  I always tweak a little.

We always ate together when I was a child and I remember watching my Mom cook a lot and being able to make cheese and mayo sandwiches and PB&J sandwiches as a kid along with heating up Campbells Soup.

The first thing I remember cooking from scratch was grilling on a Buddy L Grill followed by smoking simple things on an ECB.

My third year in college a couple of friends and I moved off campus and two us wound up being pretty good scratch cooks despite our lack of training and enjoying it to boot.

I've felt competent feeding myself and others since then although I do avoid complicated recipes.

My family always ate together, up,till we were in high school. I started helping mom well before that maybe 8 or 9 years old. I really didn’t remember anything and didn’t worry about cooking until after I left the Navy. Then I was given a cook book and would try stuff. Constantly calls to mom or dad and I started actually liking cooking. The food network really helped me expand my abilities and taste.

As far as kids today,
I made a point to always have a sit down dinner with my kids, no electronics or tv. I know several 20 somethings that do the same today. I think a meal shared with family is one of the things that makes us a society, keeps us tied together.

My side game is still pretty weak and I really don't bake. The majority of our sides are still frozen veggies, boxed mixes, and canned stuff that my wife can manage while I'm grilling. That's where I really need to up my game.

This reminds me of early on in my wife and I's relationship. She was still in college and would drive the hour or so to spend the weekend with my at my apartment. Most of my cooking for her consisted of basically throwing a 3-5 pound roast in a crock pot and that was dinner. She would always want to know where the sides were and I always said you didn't need them when you had that much meat.