Happy wife of 11 years and mother of four beautiful children. To me, family is the most valuable treasure in life. I love to cook all types of foods from different cultures but my favorite is Italian. I am so thankful for the internet and also food tv. It has really been a driving force in teaching me how to cook. I don't know if it is my favorite, but my father can not go one Thanksgiving with out his mashed rutabaga. Mashed rutabaga has become a Thanksgiving side dish tradition. If I don't make that sidedish for Thanksgiving he would never forgive me. One benefit of cooking the rutabaga (this one is more yellowish not the purple and white one) is that the vegetable stock from it contributes a very nice flavor to the gravy for Thanksgiving. Maybe this rutabaga gives him a sense of "home" as growing up a New Englander. I have come a looooong way. I used to watch my father cook as a young girl. I loved the aromas in the home. I wanted to be just like my dad. When I first got married and had to cook on my own it was a bit of a challenge. Over the years I have come to figure out my husband and my childrens' likes and dislikes. It is a triumph to me when my family wants seconds and my meals are prepared from scratch. When my family is happy I am happy. It is truly a triumph. What's that old saying......"a way to a man's heart"... When I first started baking I couldn't figure out why my banana breads kept falling. Dad always had it perfect. My bread smelled so good but looked soooo terrible with the sinking in the middle. I figured out how to fix the problem. I only had those sort of tragedies before I had access to the internet 11 years ago. Thank God for the information highway! When I was a teen I made these HORRIBLE flat, crazy shaped, chewy cookies! They were gross! I can make a great chocolate chip cookie now!