I grew up around food---from following my mom to the cooking classes she taught to watching her cook in restaurants as a kid--cooking and experimenting with food has always been second nature to me. Now that I am married and have a home of my own, I enjoy few things more than making an excellent meal for friends and family. I adore making hearty, stick to your ribs meals: chili, homemade sauces, stews....comfort food is the way to go. Since I married my husband, we have begun hosting a yearly Cinco de Mayo dinner. Being an Irish girl married to a Scottish man, this was definitely out of the ordinary for me, but our dinners have become a huge hit. I get satisfaction every time i make something that I know someone doesn't like and i not only get them to try it and like it but ask for seconds! I'll never forget it...i suppose the only way to have successes when experimenting with food is by also having failures. I was 8 years old and making hamburgers. For some reason it seemed like a good idea to mix tuna fish and whole black peppercorns in with the ground meat...suffice to say, that's not a recipe i'll be posting on this site...BLECH!