A teacher with 6 grown children (3 are mine, 3 are his!), art, camping, good wine, good coffee, good chocolate, great food, good books, great conversation, are all parts of life that I don't think I could do without! My favorites right now are all things vegetarian; I'm not vegetarian per se, but love the variety. I enjoy asian (Indian/Thai) cooking, unusual Italian recipes, anything different is fair game. I enjoy breadmaking with a variety of grains/flours, especially artisan type breads. I am currently making a boat-load of different cupcakes for my daughter's wedding in August. I am a frugal cook, love to use fresh local product, and forage for wild greens, berries, etc. Every year, my sister and I spend a day or so baking 12-18 different varieties of cookies, tarts, breads, candy for Christmas! This is something we have done from watching our mother and aunt as small children. Making my own wedding cake. Nearly impossible feat, considering my Boxer ate the first one! I actually did it to save money; unfortunately, it was a chocolate cake, and after spending $$$ at the vet's getting the dog's stomach pumped, I ended up spending more! All the same, it was a flourless chocolate cake with a simple rolled fondant covering, and was a huge success! The time I was in a hurry, making a very rich mocha/chocolate cheesecake; I accidently swapped the measured amounts for the sugar and the dutch cocoa. You can only imagine the looks on my guests faces when they took the first bite of very dark, very UNSWEET cheesecake!!