This month we feature Vancouver  based, Darina Kopcok of  gratineeblog.com.  Darina’s blog is both visually pleasing and inspiring. 1. Who taught you to cook? I have always experimented in the kitchen. I began by trying to recreate some of my favourite restaurant dishes, breaking them down by ingredients and relying on some of the techniques I learned from my mother and grandmother. Some of these dishes turned out beautifully, others were failures. It was only when I started food writing that I actually began cooking according to the recipes of authors that I respected. This is when my cooking began to improve measurably. However, I don't think I would have been able to improve so much on my own without building a knowledge base of various techniques throughout the years. 2. You've written quite a bit about Julia Child.  How has she influenced your cooking? I find the Julia Child story incredibly inspiring. This is a woman to whom success came rather late in life, yet she went on to revolutionize the world of food in North America and is celebrated as an icon across the globe. Her story is proof that it's never too late to achieve your dreams. She was an incredibly hard worker and I admire her dedication, passion, and attention to detail. She is truly an inspiration. 3. How does cooking influence your everyday life? I have always believed that food is about more than just sustenance; it's about memory, family, community. Cooking connects you to so many things. It's about nurturing yourself and those important to you. Very few things in life create the bond that sharing a meal together does. To me, cooking is nourishment on so many levels. 4. How do you start creating a new recipe? Over the years I have come to a basic understanding of ratios and ingredients that combine well, so no matter what I want to make, I start from there. Also, after I make a dish a few times, I usually incorporate changes and make it my own. Eventually it's not even the same recipe anymore. I cook mostly Mediterranean dishes and spend time researching authentic recipes and the techniques used to execute them. Once I have an understanding of a dish, I start experimenting. 5. What's the best piece of advice you have for someone who wants to cook more, but doesn't know where to start? My strongest recommendation would be to get a copy of Larousse Gastronomique. It has an incredible wealth of information on ingredients and, of course, technique--which I believe is the cornerstone of good cooking. Plus, it contains hundreds of amazing recipes. I would also choose a few recipes from a classic cookbook like Mastering the Art of French Cooking and cook them exactly as printed. Once you have mastered them, choose another and go from there. Soon enough you will have built your repertoire.