I fell in love with cooking during a trip to Europe 25 years ago. I'd won a contest and the prize was a ten day trip to France, Switzerland and Italy. What an incredible adventure! I fell in love with the food in Italy and when I returned to the States I began watching gourmet cooking shows on our local public TV station. I learned so much from watching Julia Child, Jeff Smith, Martin Yan and others. Twenty five years later and I'm still cooking, and still having adventures with food. My love for Italian cuisine has not waned, but I also love the challenge of BBQ. You can't live in Kansas City and not love BBQ. My dream is to be part of a competition BBQ team and to compete at the American Royal BBQ Championship. My maternal grandmother was German, and she was a wonderful cook. Her sauerbraten was incredible. My father's family was Swedish, so I grew up with wonderful foods like lingenberries, limpe bread and pickled herring. Yes, I ate pickled herring as a kid! My biggest triumph was preparing all the food for my parent's 50th wedding anniversary, and having the guests compliment me on it. Next was my secret BBQ baby back rib recipe, which my friends beg me to make. Now if I can just make it onto a BBQ team! Oh, let's not go there! Okay, I'm no baker. I couldn't make a cake if I had to!