My husband and I have a hobby farm in Northern New Mexico that we grow many different fruits and vegetables. We raise meat animals and have a hive of honeybees to supply us with honey. I love taking things from my farm and garden to make homemade versions of things people normally purchase at the store. I also love to make an entire meal just from my farm without having to purchase anything at the store. My only family cooking tradition was Thanksgiving Dinner where we always made way too much food, mostly just traditional Thanksgiving items like turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie and etc. I love decorating cakes for weddings, birthdays and showers. I would have to say that the challenge a huge cake, beautifully decorated, brings on is far more difficult than preparing any main dish meal. Washing, cutting and preparing enough green beans for 40 quart jars to find out that my pressure canner had a leaky seal and wouldn't keep pressure. :(