I am a wife, mother of two, and food fanatic. Cooking is my release, my way to unwind. I love to cook new recipes over and over to change it and make it my own. A little bit more of this, a little less of that, and ta da! Traditions in my family are very new. My mother and her friends are the ones who started the cooking traditions I hold dear. My favorite is the night before Thanksgiving. Women only party with colorado bull dogs by my god mother and everyone chopping and stirring something or other in preparation for the next day. My happiest times have been with those women and those silly drinks. I can cook a great meal on the fly. As a child my mother didn't have too much time to cook and after a while I got sick and tired of take out. So, at the age of eight I got into the kitchen and started cooking for myself before my mom got home. Even when we didn't have much in the cabinet I could pull something off that was delicious!! When my mom realized my talents she would have me make the shopping list and would take me to the grocery store to get what I needed for the experiments I would be cooking for the week. After finding a good taste I'd alter it to my liking and serve it to anyone who'd eat it! I cannot for the life of me cook a decent gravy!!! Any gravy...even when I follow a recipe I just don't seem able to do it!! I can get it to the right consistency, but it tastes like flour, or it tastes great and looks like soup! Any advice will be taken to heart!