I am a registered nurse working in home health. I have 2 grown children and my little children are my 2 dogs and a cat. My husband and I love auto racing, computer and we both love to cook. In the last 18 months I have lost 165 pounds and good healthy meals are more important than ever to me and my family. I love to cook in the crockpot and on the grill but most of all I love to please people with my cooking. It's hard to beat a good filet mignon on the grill with some grilled asparagus and potatoes. One of my favorite things to cook in the crockpot is barbecued chicken or ribs. Cooking traditions for my family are our Christmas Day meal a Mother's Day meal. Traditional dishes at these meals include a broccoli casserole, a combination of butter beans and corn with cheese, my famous green beans and of course, a hash brown casserole with sour cream and cheese. The meats will be turkey and/or ham and I found out this past Christmas that my family is partial to prime rib. I have had many but the Amaretto cake that I made seemed to have made a great impression on some of our friends. I have had a few of these as well. Probably one of my biggest failures was the time I tried to substitute self-rising flour in a pound cake instead of the plain flour, baking powder and salt. It rose up and bubbled over the pan and all over the bottom of my oven. What a mess! And the cake was inedible as well. Don't ever try to substitute ingredients in a traditional pound cake recipe.