I am a proud Marine Corps wife, living for the moment in VA Beach. I love being able to surprise my husband with different meals every day. I enjoy cooking different types of cuisine, and I am always trying to challenge myself with new recipes. I am very confident in the kitchen, and really love being able to feed people food that is better than anything they could get in a restaurant. I love cooking Greek and Italian foods, because of the big flavors. I am learning how to cook more traditional Mexican dishes. I am really love making things up as I go along, and creating my own recipes. I don't work, so I have all day to shop at the farmers market, and grocery stores. I love finding ingredients that look really good, and then creating something from those recipes. I come from an Italian background, so I love traditional Northern Italian foods. My family only got together at holidays, so most of my memories are of Thanksgiving (traditional turkey and fixings) and Christmas (fish dishes). We BBQ'd a lot when I was growing up, and fresh vegetables from my grandmas garden combined with my grandpas BBQ are favorites. My 1st Thanksgiving dinner, hands down. I had never attempted cooking such a large meal, for so many people, with so many different dishes, and in such a small kitchen. The turkey came out delicious, so much so that people were actually eating the turkey more than the sides!! I used a lot of family recipes and put my own twists on them. It was ambitious, but it cemented my cooking skills in the minds of my family, and gave me a lot of confidence. I don't really have any major tragedies, but I have cooked quite a few things that my husband has hated, but that is only because he is picky. No mayonnaise, sour cream, cream cheese, ranch dressing, blue cheese, and a whole list of things he doesn't like. It has forced me to change my cooking habits, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.