I started cooking when I was 23, a recent college grad and moving 800 miles away from home (college didn't count since I only ate fast food and ramen). I started with simple, easy to make dishes such as stir-frys and casseroles. Over the years, I found my niche in cooking...italian, asian, mexican, traditional American comfort food..I watch Food Network religiously and collect cookboks, cooking magazine, recipe cards. Aside from spending time in the kitchen, I also enjoy fitness/exercise, boating, music, shopping/fashion, and spending time w/friends & family. I love to bake! A few years ago, I worked at a small local business and started bringing in homemade cookies, bars and cupcakes to the office. What started as a Monday morning treat turned into a twice-a-week ordeal! (And even the business owner expected a dish of cookies weekly!) It was fun to see my co-workers gobble up the new desserts I experimented with. Lately, I don't do as much baking, but I just received a StandMixer from my parents as an early Christmas gift, so I might be back to whipping up cookies and bars in no time! As far as regular meals go, I love cooking Italian, Mexican and Asian food and I rely heavily on my slow cooker in the cold winter months. Nothing beats a hot, comforting meal after a long day at work! My mom and aunts cook authentic German dishes that I love. I grew up mostly on the comfort food of the midwest, lots of meat and potatoes, and BBQing in the summer..and since I grew up in Iowa, I absolutely LOVE fresh sweet corn on the cob! I make a pretty darn tasty lasagna! I tried to make a piecrust from scratch once and failed miserably..it was all dry and crumbly. I am also bound and determined to make a yeast bread from scratch, but the one time I attempted to do this, the dough didn't rise one bit!