I lived in NE until retiring in 2005, we then came back to Miami where I grew up. I love to bake cakes and cookies. I am now loving that I get to try all of these wonderful recipes on this site. Since I have been on this site I have learned to take a real interest in doing all kinds of new dishes, something I never had time for before. My husband loves all of these new ways I cook things. I have learn more than I ever knew in the fifty years I have been cooking. And I am having fun too. I also cover boxes of all kinds for special things such as baby showers, weddings and etc. I used to make a wedding cake out of three boxes, but now only make a wedding memory box. I love thinking up different ways to make them. I even did a Hollywood, CA theme for someone who was a producer in Hollywood. It's fun to take an idea and go with it. I love to cook different kinds of cakes and breads to give away. At the holidays I always bake hundreds of cookies. I like to find at least one new recipe per year. Sometimes I will drop one that I was using for a new one and other times I just add the new one to my other ones. I love finding new recipes to try. My favorite tradition is baking cookies at the holidays. My grandmother taught me to bake and I passed it along to my children and grandchildren. My cooking triumphs are my failures that I tried again and again until they came out perfect and I was able to learn from my mistakes. Any thing I cooked or baked that failed. Over fifty years of cooking, I have had a few like a new cake I tried and it fell or a dish I thought would taste different.