When I was growing up food was just what you ate at meal times. It was never fun or beautiful or adventurous. I have tried to change that for my own family. I am a stay at home mom who is busy with life but I try to work food in as a fun time for us to come together as a family. We have a lot of bbqs and picnics, we travel a lot so i'm always trying to come up with food that's easy to cook while camping but more entertaining than grilled hot dogs! I like to cook but I love to bake. I'm a math person to begin with so I like the exactness of baking. I raise my eyebrow at chefs that are so good at being adventurous and talented at cooking but are terrified of baking. There is a lot of art and creativity that goes into baking also - you don't have to be scared! I also love the grill - I am under the belief that you can grill ANYTHING! If you've tried something crazy that turned out wonderful, let me know!! I have tricked my kids (4 and 7) into thinking "Snack Fiesta" is a party dinner. Really it's a bunch of fresh veggies and meats and cheeses all sliced up with dips and breads on a tray that they can eat with their fingers and for dessert they get to dip fresh fruit into melted chocolate - suckers! That is probably our favorite original tradition - sounds good for dinner tonight too! My chicken pot pie is absolutely fantastic and after cooking for a decade i can finally make the perfect chocolate chip cookie - perfect. oh no....too many to count. My parents never taught me to cook and my brother still tells the story of me forgetting about a pan of boiling water until it caught on fire when i was 14.....i'm 31 and i still call someone to ask how long to boil eggs for at easter!