I am a single Mom since 1987. I raised three beautiful girls - two of whom are now married with their own children - and one planning to marry in December 2009. I have 4 handsome grandsons and one beautiful granddaughter, all of who I am very proud. I am an Instrument/Electrical CAD designer working until I can afford to retire and spend ALL of my time with my family and friends. I love to cook new and exciting things. I enjoy experimenting with recipes to customize them and make them mine. I also love to get creative in the kitchen, using my imagination to concoct new and exciting dishes to call my own. My children have always been my test subjects and they continue to be my best and worst critics. "Home cooking" is my favorite style. I enjoy making dishes that can become family traditions and a part of meals talked about years from now. I have created several original recipes through experimentation and I have also written a cookbook. What started out to be a small memento for my girls turned into a work of love in progress. I have never commercially marketed them but I have sold over 300 copies and plan to have more printed in the near future. The worst thing that EVER happened in my kitchen was when I was preparing a roast to be served to VERY important guests. I was only 19 years old and a relatively new cook. In the panic of trying to get everything done on schedule, I accidentally poured about a teaspoon of PineSol on the roast and had to cut away part of it to be able to use it. I was terrified that the strong odor would prevail but it didn't and the meal was a HUGE success... Although funny to look back on, it was a disaster to my day when it happened.