My name is Jenny, and I'm engaged to a wonderful person named Brien. Brien and I have a beautiful little girl who just turned one November 2, and I am exploring different cooking styles and recipes to please my family. I love anything and everything, but Brien is a little bit more picky. Actually, it's very hard to please him. Some of his favorites are fairly simple: anything fried, homemade mac-n-cheese, anything grilled, lobster bisque soups/clam chowders, etc. He is allergic to tomato-based foods, and can't handle anything with spicy herbs. I have been devoted to looking to this site first before consulting any cookbooks becuase of the easy to use features that let me choose what I have on hand with a press of a button. I hope to better my cooking skills because it's a great way to de-stress after a very hard day of work. Being an editor of a small town newspaper is demanding work, especially since I'm the only one who works for the paper! Well, I'm game for trying anything. I really love to make Italian dishes. The most fun I ever had making anything was a 1st generation Italian recipe that was given to me from Brien's Aunt Trish (the Italian couple moved next to his Aunt in Rockford, Illinois and she got the recipe from her neighbors). I had a crop of heirloom and grape tomatoes that were going to go to waste, as well as a bunch of parsley, basil, and oregano from my herb garden. What fun it was to create a delicious marinara from things that I had tended to all summer! I recently begun using recipes from my maternal grandmother for Thanksgiving. Making her corn souffle, green bean casserole, and my mothers own broccoli cheese and rice casserole made my Thanksgiving great. It felt that grandma was still here, although she passed away 4 years ago. Having the dishes come out perfectly was just another feather in my cap. I also enjoyed making homemade chicken and noodles this year for my mother in law who became ill with the flu. My daughter loves them so much I have decided to make them a staple in our regular meal planning! Well, the above mentioned, obviously. Thanksgiving was great, and my noodles are better! My hubby just told me I haven't really had any! Woo-hoo!