I am a single mother of 3 and Ra Ra to Mr. Braylon Byrd (future football star!). Jenny, Kelly and Nicholas have been my food guinea pigs their whole lives. We went thru the Hamburger Helper days together. Now that they are mostly grown and I have a much less stressful job I can spend more time on cooking and experimenting with different foods. We love all things New Orleans (including the Saints!). Me and my daughters have fleur-de-lis tats on our feet. That was the best bonding experience ever! The food in NOLA is to die for. Fresh seafood and cajun cooking...you just can't beat it anywhere in my book. Crab cakes, andouille sausage/chicken gumbo, fried green tomatoes with shrimp remoulade sauce....my favorite things to eat too. Biscuits and tomato gravy, blackened catfish, garlic mashed potatoes. Thanksgiving at my Mom's house. We get up at the crack of dawn and start cooking. Turkey and cornbread dressing, gumbo, potato salad, brocolli cheese casserole, monkey bread and tons of homemade pies. The Thanksgiving Feast at my old job. I planned it every year for over 100 employees. Everyone brought pot luck. It took a lot of work but it was so worth it. Good times and good food. The first time I cooked dinner for guests after becoming a newlywed - We invited a couple over for dinner and about the only thing I knew how to cook was chicken and dumplings. All the dumplings formed together to make one big dumpling that sank to the bottom of the pot. Then I found out the wife was vegetarian. It was a disaster!