I have 4 children, 4 step-children and 11 grandchildren. I've been married to my wife for 17 years. I play the guitar, love to do woodworking and garden. I sing bass in a barbershop chorus and a quartet. And I love to cook. Bread is way up there on my list of favorite things. Bread in a pan or freeform, pizza, bagels, rolls, English muffins and danish are among my many offerings. I also enjoy taking whatever I have and creating my own dishes. Always different and always good. Cookbooks for me are inspirational, not a strict map to success. If I do follow a recipe, I often morph it into my own over time. I once made a pound cake from a recipe and after tasting it decided something was missing. Next time I added lemon juice and zest. It made ordinary extraordinary. Stuffed turkey with all of the trimmings for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Christmas cookies, date nut bread and stollen. I have written about 20 of my own recipes, most of them breads. Forgetting to add salt or yeast to bread dough. Forgetting to check the oven and broiling a loaf of bread instead of baking it, ending up with a burnt top and very pale bottom.