Though I’ve always LOVED to eat, my interest in cooking began a few short years ago after watching chefs craft dynamic dishes Food Network and PBS. Inspired by these culinary connoisseurs, I amassed a small arsenal of new cooking utensils, gave our kitchen pantry an “extreme makeover”, stocked it with all the items "real" chefs use when cooking, and started a collection of cookbooks found at yard sales and in thrift stores. I bid farewell to the average dinners I’d become accustomed to preparing and began serving more flavorful, exciting meals and started baking too. I've had so much fun that my friends and I have started a cooking club. As I said before, I LOVE to eat! Right now my favorite things to cook include Asian foods, Mexican foods, and pizzas. My newest interest is cooking with whiskey and wine. I'm a busy wife and mother, so I'm a huge fan of the slow cooker too. My family, like many, is full of unofficial chefs who taught me well. My grandmother, mother, and my Aunt Mae are the women who taught me much about cooking. But my grandfather served as a cook in the military and has also been a great source of secret cooking information as well. I've had a few cooking triumphs. For the past two years, the moms' group I'm part of has sponsored a cooking contest. My entries have earned first and second place! However, my greatest cooking triumph came last year when I prepared a pound cake for a family gathering. My grandmother, the family's master baker, came to me and said that my pound cake was one of the most delicious she'd ever tasted. She then asked ME to share the recipe with her! Talk about a strange turn of events! There are way too many to bore you with! But if you really want hear one, just ask my husband about The Great Pesto Catastrophe of 2004.