I'm a traditional housewife. As such, I get the power to control what my family eats and what I have to prepare. Healthy and easy are always on the menu. I love cooking, baking and candy making. After being diagnosed with an anxiety disorder I found out how much my love of cooking lends itself to relaxation and stress reduction in my life. Good stuff! cakes, cookies, comfort food As a kid, I was in the kitchen with my mom and grandma anytime something was cooking. As a "grown up", I love having kids in the kitchen with me! Not only are they good helpers and tasters, they're also really good at keeping the cook laughing. Which just makes the food taste better. Mom was right, all things taste better with a dash of love! I started cooking as a child, age 7. Scrambled eggs and mac cheese were my specialities until mom showed me the joy of cookies a couple years later. By age 12, I was cooking meals for fun. Shortly after, I was entrusted with my mother's lasanga recipe which she had gotten while stationed in Italy during her military service. Since then, I've spent hours in the kitchen of my mother-in-law, learning the "family secrets" of perfect potato salad, homemade BBQ sauce, and honing my knowledge of the science of cooking and the art of seasoning. My first and only attempt at biscuits from scratch. They turned out like little hockey pucks. I've since learned that they sell dry mixes for a reason. Oh, and last Thanksgiving I killed the yeast in the dinner rolls. Luckily, I had everything on hand for cornbread instead.