I come from a family who ate out often. When we did cook, it was often a "meat and potatoes" type meal, cooked by my step-father. My mom's expertise is limited to lasagna and a few other "specialties"...so, learning to cook has been a journey. For years, I cooked out of boxes and cans, deviating only when I made my trademark baked chicken. I am finally beginning to feel comfortable with my cooking abilities and beginning to experiment with spices and different flavors to make the best meals possible for my family. I have a four year old daughter who enjoys cooking with me and, together, we are making new and interesting dishes to share with my husband. Chicken! I love chicken and try to do new and different things with it all the time...probably because it's one of the few meats my husband and I agree on. I also enjoy baking, especially banana bread. My grandmother used to make delicious, yet simple meals for my family. Living through the depression, she learned to make wonderful meals out of virtually nothing - to rave reviews. Unfortunately, she passed away before she could teach me her "secrets" but I still remember Grandma's cooking as the best food in the world!! I served my first ever Thanksgiving meal - for 10 - last year. It was a huge success!! From the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy to the stuffed mushroom appetizers, everything was PERFECT! I still can't believe I actually pulled it off! I've had a few...I had been given smoked pork chops from a relative who raved about how delicious they were. I baked them and served with mashed potatoes and a homemade mushroom gravy I was quite proud of - it was AWFUL! The smoked flavor of the meat not only did not go well with the mushroom gravy I served it with, but it overpowered all of the seasoning I had added and ended up tasting like a piece of rotten ham. Needless to say, my husband and I did NOT finish the meat - but the mushroom gravy was delicious on the garlic mashed potatoes!!