I’ve never cooked very much, I come from a family of awesome cooks and I always had other things to do. I loved to cook in high school and would give my friend’s parents baked goods for Christmas. It’s shocking how I’ve made it this far without really ever cooking a traditional meal on a regular basis. I always thought it was too much trouble. It made me mad to spend hours preparing a meal, from planning to presentation, then in 15 minutes it’s gone and all that’s left is dirty dishes. Within the past couple of years my life is completely different. I have come back to God, He has sent me a wonderful man, Don, my mother passed away, Don and I are helping my dad as much as he’ll let us and my last child is about to move out. I would like to start cooking more but with my own flare and not use old family recipes. I like to try new recipes as well as new takes on old family and Texas favorites. After my mother passed away I’ve been trying to establish new traditions. I could never cook as good as she could so I am trying to make her traditions my own. My first Thanksgiving meal and it was for 15 in 2006. Oh my... I've cooked stuff that smelled so bad we had to take them outside to dump. Thankfully there has been no major injures or distraction of property, just a loss of what little confidence I had.