Forty-something, happily married, mother of four - 16 through 27. I love cooking Cajun and Italian dishes for family and friends, but my real passion is baking! My favorite tradition is making Thanksgiving Dinner for my kids, my mother and father, and several of my 9 brothers and sisters and my 40 something nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews! I make everything from scratch. VERY BUSY COUPLE OF DAYS! My niece couldn't afford to buy a wedding cake, so I made one (my first) as my gift to her. The first time I made dinner for my in-laws, I was baking a New York style cheesecake. I really didn't know my oven and because the directions called for changing the temperature setting after the first ten minutes of baking, the oven automatically turned off and when the timer went off after an hour of "baking," it was still liquid! EMBARRASSING!! Dessert was extremely late that night!