I am originally from Long Island New York and came from a big italian family. My husbands family is irish and part vegetarian. This posed new challenges for me as a cook. I dont entertain often but when I do its all out! I love to try new things. I get very bored with the same old same old. I dont vary that much with exotic foods so I could never be an iron chef judge. I dont eat and wont cook anything that normal people throw away.I usually lean toward italian, creole and asian with dabbling in spanish, mexican and greek. Rice balls on big holidays family meals that last for hours Christmas 2008 Dining Extravaganza! tried ALL new recipes and they were ALL OUTSTANDING My first try at canneloni, my crepes were horrid and rubbery, the meat was ordinary but the beschemel was good! Also, I tried a new indian seasoning that was so hot that my husband and I couldnt kiss for several hours cause we couldnt feel our lips and lost a layer of our tongues