I can remember the days of claiming that I could only make a handful of dishes well. Over the years, with help from friends and great recipe sites such as this, I have added many new dishes to my repertoire. I am very glad that my days of only knowing how to nuke Ramen noodles in college are over! I love using the slow cooker because it allows me to come home from work and not have to stress over making dinner. My favorite dishes are casseroles and other foods that are just as good to eat the next day. I love vegetables and try to find healthy dishes that are full of flavor. I have two step children and I really enjoy teaching them how to cook. I even bought them both a chef's apron and hat. I have officially become the birthday baker at work. I bake a special treat for each person in my office when their birthday comes around. This has allowed me to try new recipes that I wouldn't normally try. The first time I tried to make a pound cake from scratch, I got the recipe from my mother. Her pound cakes are always so good and I had just gotten a Kitchenaide mixer for Christmas. I volunteered to bring a pound cake in for a party at my job. The night before I slaved in the kitchen, following the instructions exactly to ensure I didn't mess anything up. Everything seemed fine, until I put the cake in to bake. About half way through the bake time my roomate and I smelled something burning. The pound cake was rising over the pan and was overflowing onto the bottom of my oven! I was mortified, and have not tried to bake anything since. (The cake tasted good, but looked horrible so I had to stop at the store the next morning to buy one for work.) **UPDATE** Almost 5 years after this experience I learned that the reason it overflowed is because I used a bundt pan which wasn't large enough.