I'm a newlywed army wife trying to refine my cooking skills and learn new recipes. I absolutely love to bake, whether it be breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert. If you give me an oven, I can make anything! (well almost ;-) My hobbies include sewing, drawing, decorating, photography and other miscellaneous artistic crafts. I also love boating, playing with my hyper schnauzer puppy, and spending time with my wonderful husband. I love to bake desserts! I come from a German and Portuguese (Azores) background so my dessert tastes include a lot of Eastern European style desserts and also some island-like desserts (think pineapple and coconut). I also think that casseroles are absolutely great. Who'd have thought you could take a bunch of your favorite random ingredients, throw them in a dish, bake them, and have a tasty, filling dinner? They bring out my creativity. Aside from desserts and casseroles, I'm open to a large variety of foods such as Italian, Asian, European, etc. Breakfast is one of my favorite meals to cook. -It's a meal my husband has perfected :-D The best cook I know is my German grandmother. Most of the cooking traditions I know were passed down from her to my mother (who somewhat Americanized them). Most of the food I was raised with was German/Polish. I had liverwurst sandiwiches every day for lunch as a kid, and my carbs consisted of potatoes, potatoes, and... potatoes! My grandmother makes everything from scratch which is the way I try to cook... although it's not always convenient! Easy recipes which mirror the same tastes and qualities are a great help in today's fast paced society, and I'm always looking for great ones. My cheesecake is a full proof crowd pleaser! It's the first thing I baked from scratch as a teenager. I continue using the recipe today because so many people just can't stop eating it! It's a cheesecake with apples and caramel that has a very cake-like consistency (rather than NY style). Another dessert I'm proud of is the coffee almond brownies I made my husband for his birthday. They were a hit with him, his platoon (he's in the Army) and my parents. I've been told that my tilapia/orange ruffy recipe is great on taste and texture (I use a variation of spices and breadcrumbs). It's my goal to one day be as good as my grandma! It's a tragedy when I spend all day on something that people don't ABSOLUTELY LOVE!!! I've never made anything that people didn't like, but there have been a few that didn't impress... that's hard to take! There are a lot of recipes and improvisations that can be perfected, or at least improved :-)