I have lived most of my life in the Austin area. All three of my grown children and my 7 grandchildren live within 10 miles as do most of the rest of my family. In my spare time I love to work in my yard, torment my grandkids and do volunteer work at my church. I really love to bake. I also enjoy making snack foods for meetings and casual gatherings. I never mastered pie crusts...I leave that to my Mom. Our family has started dessert contests on special occasions like Easter and Christmas when the whole bunch gets together. It is a challenge to find something no one else has thought of and to not divulge the secret prior to the contest. Last year for Christmas I prepared Chocolate chunk cupcakes with Peppermint frosting. They were a hit even though they were really rich. The other entries were my son's trifle, my daughter's huge platter of candy, and my Mom's banana pudding. My son won the contest...I think he cheated! One of my favorite restaurants has a marvelous Cream of Jalapeno Soup that I love. I decided one day to try to duplicate it and in the process it became cream of jalapeno with shredded chicken soup. I have made it so many times that I don't even use a recipe anymore and it is now one of the family staples. It has turned into an evolved recipe, each time changing a little something...more veggies...more jalapenos...but it is always a crowd pleaser. This is always the first pot of soup gone at the church suppers. About 15 years ago I decided I was hungry for chicken and rice. A friend of mine and I had already planned to go on a short flight that day so I opted to put the dish in the crockpot. Needless to say, when I got home it was GLUE! I never tried rice in a crockpot again.