I'm the mother of two and the grandmother of one special little girl. I live on the coast of Florida with husband of 39 + years and we eat lots of great seafood. I've always liked to cook and enjoy testing new recipes on our friends and family. Most have turned out just fine! Lots of seafood recipes. Italian foods are favs. I've changed my cooking over the years to use what is local and easy to get. I'm a lover of sweets and can't resist a good cake or cookie recipe. "Chocolate Kate Cake" is an all time favorite of my family, it uses 4 types of chocolate in a sinfully rich cake. Totally different, but "Seafood Gumbo" made with fresh caught Crabs and Gulf shrimp and Okra is always a summer request at our house. Cookouts in back yard or on pool deck are the best! We grill so many things and heve wonderful parties with friends and family. Once,while living in Germany, we gave a Christmas in July party/cookout and had a terific time. Our friends thought we were a little crazy, but ALL had fun. We listened to Christmas carols, too. I entered a Cake baking contest and tried a never before tested (by me) recipe. I won First Place for my "Italian Cream Cake". My husband managed to get a small piece of cake to taste. Unfortunately, I did not and it was some years before I made that cake recipe again. I made a BBQ chicken recipe with new spice mix I had purchased at specialty shop and followed directions on package only to discover that it was so Spicey HOT that no one could eat it! We threw it in the trash( along with the package of spice mix!!)