Mom of three, 2-boys, 1-girl. Grandmom of 5. Have worked in hotels, conference centers, restaurants and country clubs my entire career. Surrounded by great food! Love cooking for my family, it is honestly one of the things that makes me the happiest. It is one of my proudest moments when one of my adult kid's calls me and asks me for a recipe they remember from their childhood, and want to make it for their family! Anything southern inspired. Pies, pies and more pies. Bread recipes, and anything you can cook on an outdoor grill. Grew up in Alaska, so naturally, all types of seafood. Christmas Eve dinner is nothing but appetizers. I fill the table with little bites of each family members favorites, and we take our plates to the living room, and sit wherever, listening to Christmas music, and remembering Christmas' past. Sounds kind of cheesy, but if I changed this tradition, my kids and grandkids would revolt I came up with a beef marinade by accident years, and years ago. It is now THE most requested meal for any occasion. When I tried to make sandwhich cookies for an event at my son's school. I put a tablespoon of mint extract in to the cookie, not a teaspoon! Shoud have known I was in trouble as I was driving to his school and had to unroll windows in the car to "Vent the Mint". Watched his teacher take a bite of my cookie, then a sip of her coffee, start coughing so badly she spit the cookie bite and coffee about 10 feet! I quickly grabbed the platter of cookies and threw them in the nearest garbage can. When my son saw our empty platter, he ran to give me a hug, and beamed up at me - "Our cookies are the first gone, because my mommie is the best cooker in the whole world". I never had the heart for many years to tell him the truth . . .that I nearly wiped out half the teaching staff at his school!