I started out baking. That was what got me really into food. I made all sorts of cookies and cakes and pies, all the while being taught the right way to do everything by my mom. Nowadays, I've branched out into actually cooking, and I'm loving it! I've made everything from ravioli to chana masala and pizza, and I can't wait to try the next recipe I find. Aside from baking, I love to read, write and make art. I have a 3 year old Shih Tzu named Scrabble who is my vacuum when it comes to things that fall on the kitchen floor. I love to listen to music, especially oldies and a few recent songs. Right now I LOVE making pasta. I like trying different ways of making it - whole wheat, AP flour, ravioli with pumpkin, ravioli with ricotta, noodles for lasagna, just simply noodles and Parmesan and butter... My brother loves to make a "Solstice Cake" every year. He bakes a chocolate cake and then covers it in whatever candy he finds. Probably my favorite cooking tradition is the homemade cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. They are soooo good. I'm also trying to start a tradition of making ravioli for Christmas eve dinner. I just started making my own pasta this year, and it's turned out great. The first time I tried it was not very good at all and took way too long - but now that I've made it quite a few times I'm getting better. I made enough ravioli for the family in 1 hour recently, start to finish including cleanup, and I'm excited about that! I've been lucky enough not to have any real tragedies yet. Probably the closest I've come was burning a whole batch of Christmas cookies that were supposed to be a present, but I (grumpily) did them over again.