My name is Ashley,I'm 23 and the mother of a wonderful 4 year old son.I am a stay at home mom and a certified EMT.I grew up on the eastern shore of Maryland and recently moved to Newark,Delaware with my boyfriend of one year,who happens to be the most amazing man I have ever met and the love of my life.I have a large family that I'm very close with,my great grandmother is still with us and still as fiesty as I ever remember her.I have been around cooking since I can remember but honestly untill I moved out on my own at 18 I could barely make a grilled cheese!When I was on my own I started experimenting with cooking and fell in love with it.I have been cooking ever since and always look for new exciting things to try.I get a new cook book from our library once a week and copy anything I think looks good!Other then cooking,I enjoy spending time with my son,and drinking good beer/wine.I love music,my boyfriend and I go to concerts,festivals and local bars for music as much as we can I love to cook dinner. Breakfast and simple lunches (sandwiches, soups, salads, etc.) are fun but I really love using the oven and making things where my family sits at the table and really gets to enjoy it. I have some favorite "signature" recipes I make but I also love to try new things! I'm trying to work on baking because thats really a weak department for me. I'm getting better but I'm picking recipes with easy ingredients and things I'm confident making. If anyone has any baking tips I'm all ears!! My boyfriend LOVES to grill, so I really enjoy making side dishes to go with his grill creations and I really love working together with him in the kitchen. My son helps once in awhile too and although its always a mess when hes done its so much fun to have him in there with me getting excited about his food. My great grandmother always makes cresent cookies at christmas and I'm addicted to them! There a short bread cookie rolled in powdered sugar, I have never attempted to make them and I dont plan to any time soon so I always have to wait all year to get them (which makes them a little better I think) My favorite holiday dish is string bean casserole!! My family makes it for every holiday dinner and even though its probably the simplest dish there, its definatly my favorite! Since I moved away from my home town, and my son is getting older I'm starting to look forward to my own traditions that will come with my family when we start to have holidays in our new house! I get excited about everything I cook! Every time I bake something and it turns out right I'm thrilled and make a big deal over it because baking is a weak point for me so when its good I'm happy! Also when I make something for someone that the havent had before and they enjoy it, that always gets me excited that I introduced them to something good. I cant remember any real tragedies, but I havent really put myself in a position to have any. I have never cook for a huge crowd or for people I didnt know, so with my boyfriend or family if I make something wrong or it turns out awful its never a big deal (atleast they never make it a big deal infront of me haha) I did try to make an apple tart for my boyfriend a few weeks ago, and caught the pan of butter and sugar on fire!! We had to take the pan out on the porch because it was so smokey in the house the smoke detectors in every room were going off! I tried again and when it came out of the oven I could tell it wasnt right but he tried it and with a half smile told me how good it was....I threw it out an hour later haha