Cooking since childhood

I'm an only child from a Dutch family and lived in Italy for a few years as a child. Used to explore new recipes when my parents were out of the house starting around age 12ish. They had a tendency to overeat when I did that, so I found myself with a cooking curfew. With very few exceptions, I cook everything from scratch. That includes laminated dough, almond filling, spice mixes, stocks, chestnuts, etc. The "kookboek" my Oma gave me will fall open to the pastry section if set on the spine (though plenty of other sections open easily). I have had occasional requests from friends and coworkers for dinners and pastries. I'm hoping that I will find answers to my few questions/clarifications from pro chefs here.