I was very lucky in my house...my maternal grandmother cooked and baked like a master, many from scratch with no recipe, many with. She was Hungarian and so my childhood was filled with amazing food memories from her. She also showed us the way to get every drop of egg out of the shell, and how to use every bit of whatever you were putting together. Not cheap, but very thrifty! She as well lived through great poverty in childhood, and then the Great Depression here. My own mom grew up in New York City, and from there she carried her love of all cuisines into her own kitchen. She always had a recipe on the kitchen table, read cookbooks for fun (which I've somewhat learned to do as well). We never had 'meatloaf night is Tuesday' - you just never knew what was going to inspire her and come out of her kitchen. Not always exotic, but usually very, very good.
In the last few years I've come to realize I may never bake like my grandmother, but I *can* cook well - and even instinctively if I just let go! I don't always want the chore, but I am good at it. Give me a fridge full of odd bits of this and that, and darn if I can't make something happen! My sister doesn't love cooking as much, but she's fine when she does. She loves to make things like turnovers, which I'd never do!