I work full time and have an extended local family that I love to cook for and we entertain regularly so I'm always on the lookout for quick and flavorful dishes. Anything with curry. I love to try exotic dishes and I enjoy cooking with fruit. Since my children were small we have been making "candlelight suppers." The whole family picks out the menu, does the shopping and each person makes one dish or course, then we get dressed up, turn out the lights, put on the candles and serve each other a gourmet dinner - we've had lots of fun with this and I taught my children table manners and food facts without them knowing it was a lesson. Now that they're all grown we have plans to do the same with the grandkids. Just getting dinner on the table is a triumph. When everyone looks up from the first bite and says "this is good, mom", that's the best. I'm very expirimental so not everything I make passes muster! Too numerous to mention but beet-meat balls were not a hit, chicken black bean burgers are still joked about and that's been 10 years.