I've been cooking for probably the last 20 years or more.
I can make just about anything. Pasta dishes and sauces, pesto of different varieties, pizza from scratch, all kinds of burgers,chicken and fish, tabouli, tamales (one of my latest dishes and great!), enchiladas, soups and stews, all kindza bean dishes, salsa, humus, hash browns, omelettes, pancakes etc...well, you name it. Some kind of intensive, some real simple to make.
Some things i make from a box but add other stuff.
I've not much experience on pastries though.
The wife loves it....and so do i since she's only a fair cook, although she's a great griller and makes great potato salad and deviled eggs.
One reason i got so into it is because i got tired of so-so food at restaurants, or too expensive food there, and also crap food from fast food places. I had enuf of it when i played in a band on the road. Even then, i started bringing a pot and a steamer with a hot plate to have some vegetables to eat in my hotel/motel room...as long as it wasn't smokin' with somethin' the management wouldn't know.
I had to have something semi-nutritious plus, you save a lotta money.
Don't get me wrong, i still like to have some good restaurant food or some good greasy burgers once in awhile.
Speaking of jerky:
I've not made jerky but i had some ostrich jerky that was fantastic.
