Currently attending Miami University (almost done!) for my Bachelor's degree in English Education. To balance the student/work life (and just to have a ton of fun!!!) I enjoy cooking, baking, decorating, and casually exploring the wide, wide world of food. As much as I love cooking (dinners, lunches, breakfasts, appetizers, and snacks), my true joy is in baking. Brownies, cookies, cakes, and candies are so fun to make and it's the best way to bring a smile to someone's face. From a young age I've helped many family members in their respective kitchens and every time has been a wonderful memory. My dad and I usually bake Christmas cookies, my grandma and I made a family favorite of Dutch Dumplings or homemade macaroni and cheese, and shredded chicken sandwiches and cheesy potato casserole with my mom. The list goes on and on... This past year I did my first Thanksgiving and Christmas "dinners." For Thanksgiving I made dutch dumplings, mashed potatoes, slow-cooked green beans, and dessert for about 20 people. At Christmas... I went appetizer crazy because everyone else had their own Christmas plans so we got together as a "larger family" later in the day for "snacky" foods. Hot crab dip, taco dip, fruit pizza, pumpkin pie bars, chocolate chip cookies, and a bunch of other small things that were BIG hits!!! Not major triumphs but... I'm still going strong and I hope to have legitimate triumphs in the months to come. Where to start... my latest disaster was my first effort in a fondant-covered birthday cake. Used the wrong fondant recipe ('nuff said?) and it did not go very well, though I did make it look decent (giraffe print, anyone?) but it tasted like a candy-corn covered cake. WAY too sweet. WAY, WAY too sweet. Especially since the cake was a 7-Up cake recipe that ended up being a Mt. Dew cake... never again.