I am a 39-year-old wife and new mother who loves to cook - especially for a crowd!! I work outside the home, so I appreciate recipes that are quick and easy, but I also like to cook more complicated things when I have time on the weekends. I love to cook just about any type/ethnicity of food - especially entrees, soups, salads, and sides. I don't like to bake as much - when I do, I like the recipes to be quick and easy. When I was growing up, my dad always cooked on Saturday nights. It was always an adventure - my dad loved to try new and different ethnic foods and he had a willing audience to try things on with three daughters. He especially loved to cook Chinese food and even took classes to learn the proper techniques. My mom is also a wonderful cook, so we were exposed to both the exotic and the everyday type of food. My parents taught us a real appreciation for the ingredients that go into recipes - the fresher, the better. Especially during the summer, fresh vegetables were often the stars of the show on our dinner table. My mom and dad definitely taught all of us to not be afraid to try something new and today my sisters and I are all wonderful cooks in our own right. It's fun now when my dad calls me to ask me for one of my recipes! We all still love to get together, plan a big meal, prepare it together, and then enjoy it together. I taught myself how to make risotto from scratch watching entirely too much Emeril and the Naked Chef. I can now make a wonderful risotto that I think rivals anything I've eaten out! There is nothing worse than putting something into a crock pot early in the morning, anticipating that wonderful meal when you get home in the evening, only to find that you've forgotton to turn the crock pot on. Unfortunately, I've done that more than once!!