I am the mother of two growing boys/young men and wife of a busy executive husband. We have a standard poodle, cockatiel, gerbils, bearded dragon lizard, and a fish tank. My family loves sports and staying active around the house. I want to be known for making the best chocolate chip cookies with the neighborhood kids. I love cooking Indian, Mexican, and Oriental Foods. I have a passion for sweet things!! I am also know as the "Soup Queen" by my husband, because I love to make soup any time of the year, from cold to hot!! Growing up, I was responsible for cooking for my family while my parents worked. I loved having everyone experiment with my new recipes. I remember having to start cooking by myself around the age of 11 or 12, but helped in the kitchen long before then. My mother is Lithuanian and visiting her family in Philadelphia was a food preparing event. I remember rolling gnocchi and making pierogies and stuffed cabbage. Each year at Christmas, we decorate a gingerbread house. An early cooking experience was with my girlfriend, Natalie and I prepared Christmas cookies and stuffed them with all kinds of surprises, maraschino cherries, chocolate, marshmallows, nuts, etc. More recently, I have won a camping cooking contest with the Cub Scout Pack, for which I am the Secretary. I also organize a neighborhood Progressive Dinner where everyone goes from house to house for a different course. Each year for the dinner, we have a different theme, ranging from American Regional Cuisine to International. This year, my friend hosted a New Year's Eve party where we all were assigned a different country and a course. My countries were Indonesia and Korea. I love to cook and bake, but lately, I'm busy doing other things around my house for my family, so easy preparation cooking is what I'm looking for. I subscribe to almost every cooking magazine available and my favorite sites are epicurious.com and allrecipes.com I've had quite a few, but my family still loves being my "guinea pigs". I know when I've succeeded with a recipe, when my oldest son says "mmmmmmmmm" and my husband scrapes his plate and almost wants to lick it. My youngest is a picky eater, but I'm still working on him.