My family and I live in the Northern Idaho mountains. I've lived in the area most of my life. I have 4 wonderful children, three boys still at home. I love preparing them a variety of healthy, balanced meals. I'm teaching them how to cook as well. We have a great time in the kitchen and enjoy trying new recipes. I would love to be an accomplished Italian cook! Its a culture that is fascinating to me. We like to make the old favorites such as chicken fried steak and biscuits and gravy. We love having breakfast for dinner a few times a month. We try to vary the menu so it doesn't get boring, but Southwestern pops up a lot in our week. Like most, we must have Black eyed peas and cornbread on New Years Day. I have a variety of recipes that are hits with the friends and family. It seems I've mastered Pico de Gallo. Everywhere I go, its requested that I bring it. This year I tried pickled green beans. Its been about 15 years. The first batch, I forgot about blanching. The beans were hard and gross. The second batch, my spoon flaked off and little flakes were floating around in the jars. It was so sad! The third batch was OK.