I am a member of the G.R.I.T.S. (Girls-Raised-In-The-South. Grits are otherwise known as polenta) and so was my mother, grandmother, and the women on my father's side. I am currently a stay at home mother of 2. I love to sew, and make things from recycled materials. I am best at baking but no expert. I prefer to make things from scratch but will use a mix if I am intimidated. I like to cook recipes from my mom and grandmothers, but I create simple things too since traditional recipes can be very involved. I make a lot of vegetarian foods, since I love vegetables and like to take it easy on the animal proteins. However, I love salmon and bake that regularly with just olive oil and thyme. I also love eggs and I am always looking for that next killer quiche recipe. I am always on the hunt for recipes that will appease a carnivorous family and small children. I would say baking, since that is what makes me think of holidays and of being a kid most. I was raised on banana nut bread(and the best secret recipe I must say). We had pecan, sweet potato, and pumpkin pies on holidays, fresh made-from-scratch buttermilk biscuits (with sausage gravy made in a cast iron skillet) for weekend breakfast, red velvet cake (grandma's recipe) on birthdays, and of course, last but not least, the best stone-ground cornmeal cornbread I (and most other people) have ever tasted...this was a year round compliment to most meals. Adapting my mothers banana nut bread recipe into other flavors. I am a chocolate nut, so I adapted it into a dark chocolate cherry bread, and also dark chocolate peppermint. My husband came up with the idea for banana butterscotch, and after some trial and error, realized it as my absolute favorite flavor compared to any of the others. I remember as a teen, I tried to make Jell-o on the stove top. My mistake was using a glass pot. As you can imagine, it shattered into a thousand pieces and left the kitchen in a sticky pink-tinted mess. The first time I tried to make banana nut bread, I used baking powder instead of soda, and it came out flat. I was so disappointed, I froze all 3 loaves the batch made. No one ever ate the stuff, of course, but it took me months to throw it out and get the courage to make more. My first red velvet cake turned out to be more like brown Styrofoam. The icing was amazing, though, so we just licked it off. I assure you there have been many food funerals in my kitchen.