I like travel, reading, hiking/walking, and am getting into photography. I've got a fabulous husband who is also a good cook, and the world's weirdest cat. Favorite cuisines to cook are American Regional, German, Greek, Italian-American, and Scandinavian. I like my veggies, and for some odd reason, I really enjoy prepping and chopping vegetables. It's relaxing, almost Zen-like. Spaghetti and Meat Sauce is the fave in our house. My husband and I both love to make it, and it's always good. But the funky thing is, our cat has to lick the plates when we're finished. We know our Spaghetti sauce is good when it passes the cat test. Thanksgiving is my other favorite tradition; I love everything about it. When I was little it was all about the great food (including our tradition of lemon meringue pie!) that my Aunt or Mom made. Since I've been married, it's been a collaborative effort between my husband and myself. He does the bird and the stuffing; I make the sides. Getting my Dad to eat vegetables. One Thanksgiving I made a new cranberry sauce recipe, and Dad, the vegetable-hater, ate 3 servings! I was trying to make a Mideast-inspired whole grain salad without really knowing anything about the cuisine. It was weird and awful, and I added entirely too much garlic. We had to toss it immediately because it made the house reek. I did better research from then on.