I am from an Italian family and was brought up on cooking meals from scratch. I rarely use boxed items in my meals, and I cook for my own family every night. I also am the main cake decorator at my job, and also have my own business. kakesbykaren.webs.com Lasagna, Manicotti's, Stuffed & fried Artichokes, Veal Spiedini, stuffes shrimp, crepes My favorite cooking tradition was making fried artichokes in my grandma's kitchen when I was younger. After she past away in 2005 I hadn't atempted to make them again until this year. They are very time consuming but delicious to make, and my son loves them!