Mother of two: my daughter is 20 and is in college; my son who is 13 and in 8th grade. I love to spend time with my family. I enjoy reading books (and cookbooks), doing crafts and cooking/baking. I love to try new recipes- bread and anything involving chocolate.There is nothing more yummy then the great smell of baking bread. It is a good thing my family loves to eat my creations.... Both my grandmothers enjoyed cooking. Neither grandmother liked to use recipes. One of the grandmas made the best brown bread but the recipe wasn't written down. One weekend when I was visiting I talked her into making the brown bread. Before she dumped the ingredient into the mixing bowl I would catch it in a smaller bowl and measure the ingredient and write it down. We had a few good laughs while getting this accomplished. Both ladies have passed away so I am glad to have spent time cooking with both of them. I know when I have made something great when someone asks for the recipe. My niece loves my braided Christmas tree--it is made from sweet dough and shaped into a tree. My daughter's birthday is in Dec. and we would let her pick what she wanted for a cake to celebrate with the family. The choice was always something different then a regular cake. One year it was the Bread Christmas tree decorated with colored sprinkles and icing--that pick was one repeated many times over the years. My niece could eat one all by herself. I don't dare show up to family gatherings without one of my trees. My niece looks forward to it. I am trying to figure out how to send one to her at college. My next challenge. My first attempt at home made pie crust. I worked so hard and even made a vanilla filling from scratch with egg whites whipped for the topping. It looked great. I shared a pie with the neighbors. When my parents and brother sat down for dessert-one bite and I was in shock I had mixed up the amount of salt in the crust. It was horrible. The rest of the pie was great. we scraped the filling and topping off and ate that part of the pie. I felt terrible for sharing the pie with someone before trying it. To this day I hate making pie crusts.