I am a writer by nature, although not by employment. Ah, to write is my dream and I know I will make it big some day. In the meantime I love spending time with my daughter and grandsons, friends and other family. And I love cooking for them all. I've lived many places, including Italy for three years and I learned so much while I was there. I grew up in a household that encouraged me to try just about every type of food and so I'm always game for new things! Anything spicy - I LOVE hot foods regardless of whether it is Mexican, Thai, Indian or anything else. Throwing in some pepper improves just about anything in my opinon. I really love the combination of sweet and spicy together, as in salsa's and such. My father was the 'exotic' cook in our house and so I learned to be adventurous from him. "What's that daddy?" I would say and the next thing I knew I might have a mouthful of rattlesnake meat or bear sausage or just about anything strange and unusual you can imagine. I do tend to stay away from those exotic meats now, LOL, but I will still try lots of different foods. I have been told I make the best potato salad (my mom's recipe) and guacamole around. Nothing really special about those things, I just think it's all the love I throw in. Once when I was living in Italy my friend and I wanted some guacamole. We didn't get good avocado's very often and the only ones we could find were like bricks. A cookbook I had said you could pop them in the microwave for a few seconds to soften them. Can we say disaster? Terrible - an avocado should NEVER be microwaved, under any circumstances, no matter how desperate you might be!!!