I am a U.S. Army wife and I just returned from living in Germany. My hometown is W. Peabody,MA, but I have lived in 8 States and as I mentioned overseas in Europe. I am mother to 7 kids, 4 boys,3 girls. Their ages are 20,19,17,14,12,10,and 9. I am a personal trainer and body builder. I also love mountain bike riding/racing and trail running. I have been cooking since I was a child. I enjoy entertaining friends. My family spends allot of time in the kitchen together and we find cooking a great way to have family time. As a fitness trainer I have taught my kids that you can still have your favorite restaurant foods if you prepare them at home. Doing this is very healthy as it cuts out much of the fat and salts found in excess in restaurant food. I like to learn how to prepare the local food of wherever we get stationed. I am already trying out some Southern Food recipes and so far they are tasty. Living in Kentucky will help me to learn another new way of cooking and I am very excited Ethnic foods and baked goods. Traditional American cooking. Having lived in many different states as an Army wife I have found the food cultures to be very diverse. When I lived in Europe I reflected on how the different states in the U.S. can be similar to the diversity found in many of the small European Countries, in that you can travel a short distance and the people, foods and cultures are quite different. I love too cook Holiday foods and treats. I also love to cook outside on my grill. I grew up making Italian foods so we enjoy that. My husband is Indonesian, so I've learned to make his Asian favorites. We always have these on our menu, but have the more special recipes on birthdays and holidays. Perfecting recipes from my husbands culture and learning how to prepare real German food. I am now tackling Southern Cooking. Cooking for dozens of people at once, all by myself. This includes Soldiers from my husband's Unit as well as church members and neighbors. I learned the hard way to prepare as much as I can in advance. I now give myself extra time for unexpected trips to the store. I try to be flexible with my recipes as living overseas taught me that I sometimes have to substitute ingredients.