My love for cooking is a result of my passion for eating. Good food can make any day better. My mother is from France so food has always been a focus of conversation, travels and special occasions. I also am the vice president of brand marketing at Allrecipes.com. I have been lucky enough to be part of Allrecipes for 10 years (since the early days). It has been one of the true pleasures of my life. Seeing all of the really great cooking ideas posted to the site everyday is a total joy. I love just about anything that combines fresh meat, vegetables and spices/herbs. In the summer, I couldn't live without my barbecue. In the winter, I love pastas, soups and fresh breads. I never know what I am going to cook until I go to my local market. I just buy whatever looks good (or is on sale) and figure out what to make when I get home. Sunday dinners are a tradition I couldn't live without. I find it really relaxing to spend the afternoon cooking a special meal. Homemade sushi! It was a few years ago and I was preparing Thanksgiving dinner for my in-laws at our new house. Little did I realize when I put the turkey in to cook, that the oven thermometer was broken so the temperature was 100 degrees or so less than the dial showed. It took HOURS for the turkey to cook. Thankfully, we all had a good laugh rather than panicking and no one got food poisoning from the dinner. My other tragedy is really any sort of baked good. Cakes, cookies, muffins... you name it and I have either undercooked them, burnt them or fouled them up in some other way...