Julia Usher learned to bake cookies the old, old-fashioned way: with apron tied around her little-girl waist, with a sure-handed mama right by her side in their Connecticut farmhouse kitchen.
In today's food-mad culture, it sometimes seems as if everyone you know wants to be a chef. High-school grads and mid-life career-changers are crowding cooking schools. Kids of all ages are exploring their inner Iron Chefs, experimenting in family kitchens after school. Armchair gourmets cook...