I have been cooking for about 25 years, since I was ten years old. I made dinner about once or twice a week as I was growing up, and always enjoyed mixing up spices. I now live in a lovely small town in the Sonoran desert, and boy does it get hot here! Once I DID find a snake in my BBQ grill. In the summertime our meal preparation focuses on finding alternate ways to cook things instead of using an oven or stove top. I love to prepare southwest-inspired salsas, homemade breads, homemade pizza and foccacias, waffles, stews, soups, and occasionally venture into new territory. Although I enjoy baking, I try to keep my meal prep focused on using fresh produce and vegetables and simple grains, and away from prepared foods. We eat a lot of salads, cut veggies, and sliced fruit. We make homemade pizza on Friday nights. I enjoy making a "kids' pizza" and jazzing up something more adventurous for the adults. On Sunday nights we have breakfast for dinner. This ends our weekend in a stress-free way and usually gives us a bit of extra time to play a board game as a family. Our brined Thanksgiving turkey this year was a succulent success. We have an abundance of citrus in our area and used fresh oranges, lemon, and lime to flavor the brine. We have had several recent recipe "hits" at our house using the allrecipes rating system. I seek out 5-star recipes to try. I'm really enjoying expanding my skills through your site. When I was about 15 years old, I got out my mom's prized cast-iron skillet to make fried potatoes. The skillet was perfectly seasoned and had seen years of use. I think my mother loved that skillet more than my father. I did everything I was supposed to for the fried potatoes (I thought), and momentarily left the room. Before I returned, I heard my mother screeching my name in a funny, high-pitched voice. I discovered that I had accidentally mistaken CORN SYRUP for cooking oil, which made a sticky, unforgiving mess in my mother's pan. To this day, my mother still reminds me of the incident. SHE will never forget, therefore, neither will I.