I'm a retired marketing professional with 5 beautiful grandchildren. I've always enjoyed cooking for a crowd, but now I'm cooking only for myself. However, it gives me an opportunity to test different recipes and serving only the best ones to my family and friends. I love to entertain friends and create reasons for doing so. Desserts are really my specialty, but I experiment with main courses frequently. When I find a winner I generally tweak it a bit to my liking and then keep it amongst my favorites to prepare. Preparing Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners are very special. It's an opportunity to bring the family together and enjoy each other's company. It's when I showcase some of my more successful cooking experiments. I make a fantastic Strawberry 7-Up Cake. It's my "go to" summer dessert when I want to make a good impression. One Thanksgiving I forgot to put sugar or honey in my homemade pumpkin pie. The family was so gracious they ate it anyway, but I felt like a real ninny.