I'm a stay-at-home Mom of two sweet little girls. I've taught piano lessons for 10 years now and still teach a few students in the afternoons while my toddler is napping. I'm also our church pianist. Cooking is my favorite hobby (one I have time for since we have to eat anyway!). I love making bread every week in my bread machine, and also enjoy making "Friendship Bread" many different ways. I have fun trying new recipes if they use ingredients I can easily find in my local grocery store (I'm not a fan of recipes with "exotic" ingredients since we live out in the country and cannot obtain these easily). My husband loves my roasts, pulled pork BBQ, homemade rolls, sweet potato casserole with praline topping, chocolate chip cookies, and strawberry pie (just to name a few), so, of course, I enjoy making those as well. I love baking the pies, crisps, quick breads, and cookies that my Mother made for us when we were growing up. When fruit was in season, Mom used it in her baking. We enjoyed strawberry pie and rhubarb crisp in spring, blueberry muffins in summer, apple pie and pumpkin bread in fall, and sugar cookies and ginger snaps in winter, just to name a few. I also love making Thanksgiving dinner like my Mom did, with a big roast turkey (stuffed with apples, onions, celery, etc. for aromatics), sage dressing, sweet potato casserole with praline topping, mashed potatoes and gravy, apple/cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie with whipped cream for dessert. YUMMY! I've always been afraid to try making my own baked cheesecake, but both my husband and I love this dessert! After reading many reviews, I finally made Chantal's New York Cheesecake for Valentine's day and it turned out beautifully with no cracks or browning, etc. Yea!! What momentary panic I had when one of my first attempts at cherry pie ran over, and the spilled filling caught fire in the bottom of the oven! Nothing like flames shooting up in your oven to make you forget how to put out a kitchen fire :)