I am a happily married, working mother, who loves to cook. Whenever I have time, that is. Right now, I wish I was cooking. I love to make basic, simple, old fashioned things from scratch. Anything that makes my family smiley, and believe me, they are a bunch of tough judges, makes me happy. My favorite cookbook is an Amish cookbook we received for a wedding gift, about 20 years ago. My favorite memories involve cooking with my mom and grandma. I try and try, and I still can't make apple pie as good as my mom's. And really, all she did was throw everything together. And my grandma's lemon meringue pie - it was to die for. One time, she put one in the dryer to hide it from us, and someone turned the dryer on. What a mess. I recently cooked for my parents 50th wedding anniversary. What a party, and I am still amazed that everyone loved the food. Peanut butter fudge. Or, any kind of fudge from scratch, for that matter. Every time I try to make it, and it's been plenty of times, it turns into a rock - right in the pan. And, my attempt at crock dill pickles was a mess. I ended up with a $50 crock full of spoiled pickles & gnats in our basement. I never tried that again, and I still don't know what happened. The recipe looked so easy.