My mother is a great cook. Her fried chicken and mashed potatoes make Paula Deen’s look like the work of a pimply Furr’s prep cook. She can make a chocolate sheet cake that shames the other church ladies in a five state radius.

I grew up eating country style ribs, homemade macaroni and cheese, barbequed brisket, braised roast beef, fried potatoes and creamed peas.

She never taught me to do any of it. She was a single working mom, and while it was her God-given duty to make sure we had three squares a day, made by her loving hand, the thought of having a kid in the kitchen slowing her down, making more messes, and potentially destroying dinner was far too much for her overbusy body.

When I went to college I could not use an electric can opener, let alone the hand cranked kind. I lived, for at least two years, on hot dogs and frozen burritos.

Eventually I decided I needed to learn to cook a thing or two, and broke out the trusty Better Homes and Gardens cookbook my mother had thrust into my hands as I left the nest, and made myself some chicken kiev. And I used lots and lots and lots of butter. And I liked it. Eventually I had made all of the appealing dishes in the book, and read it from cover to cover since it really does tell you how to boil water and move forth from that accomplishment. I made those dishes, again and again, for many years. That is, until the internet came gloriously rolling into my culinarily challenged world. My first foray into all that the internet had to offer me in terms of expanding my talents was on Epicurious.com.

If you haven’t been there, go there now. At the time it was often above my head (and often still is), but it opened to me the world of words like demi glace and julienne and reduction. While I wasn’t always ready to tackle the ingredient list or the techniques Epicurious offered me, it provided reading and inspiration for meals upon meals, failures, learning experiences and a few kick ass beef tenderloins with brandy sauces, accompanied by rosemary garlic mashed potatoes and curried carrot sautes.

Epicurious.com is a clearinghouse of recipes from Gourmet and Bon Appetite. Using their advanced search, you can find exactly the recipe you want, given the ingredients, dietary restrictions, or brand of cuisine your little heart desires. It’s awesome because it often shows photos, often suggests wines, and is chock full of user ratings and suggestions. I can kill an afternoon just reading about ways to use heirloom tomatoes. And yes, I am that lame. And no, I don’t have better things to do.

Over time I am going to let you in on all my dirty little secrets, ways I pass other peoples’ genius ideas off as my own, and show you how to do the same. No matter what kind of cook you are, the internet and I will offer you ways to appear far better than you really are. And that’s what it’s all about.