My three children are grown and starting families of their own. I have two grandchildren, one man around the house and three dogs. I cherish them all! Been in Phoenix for 15 years and every year at this time (July) I swear this is the last summer but seems the positives outweigh the heat and here we stay. My mother taught me what I know about cooking and I will never hold a candle to her. She has a knack for making every meal a special occasion and makes it look effortless. I believe creating something delicious from basic, sometimes limited, ingredients is the most rewarding and fun for me. I tend to make alot of main dishes and casseroles. We like leftovers and those work well with our lifestyle. My cultural influences are Scandinavian and German. Good old meat and potatoes. That being said, I love Mexican food and Asian and Italian and how lucky we are to live in a place where all that is readily available. I am far too humble to list them all :) I am far too proud to admit to any :)