Me too! My Mom was a lousy cook as she was just not in to seasoning or spices. Dad was mostly the BBQ guy and did mostly steaks (which I am not a fan of), but he did have a marinade for grilled swordfish that was probably the best meal I had at home.
I like Gordon Ramsay… not for his recipes, but more about his “always on” rant about tasting. The only failures I have ever had have been following recipes verbatim without tasting (no matter who they were from).
Now, even with cherished recipes I have… I can replicate them even if I don’t have all the called for ingredients by simply throwing things together while tasting. I always did this with cocktails, but it has only been about the last ten years or so when I have learned to cook this way. In hindsight it seems pretty rudimentary, but it was lost on me for way too long.
Recipe follower vs: recipe developer… as a software guy who always tests, it should have been a no brainer.
