I am a vegetarian, have been since the summer of 2004. I love cooking mexican food, Italian food, and chinese stirfries. I also like cooking Middle Eastern food, and Indian food, however I cook these less often. My favorite thing to cook is Mexican food - black beans, guacamole, and my signature fresh salsa (with tomatoes from my garden in the summer :) ) My family is a bunch of meat eaters, so most of the "traditions" that I will carry on are sweets. My mom's chocolate chip cookies are great - we call them the chocolate delivery system. Also, we like to make fresh pesto from the basil plants we grow during the summer. We get MOUNTAINS of basil, and make alot of pesto that way. Thumbprint kisses (Chocolate cookies), pesto, salsa, guacamole, curries, buttermilk muffins, udon tofu stirfry, key lime pie, the gingerbread house. Bread, chocolate muffins.