Born in Elmira, NY, raised in West Virginia and lived in Kansas City, MO for nearly 10 years. Living in different areas of the country and visiting many more has given me an appreciation for regional flavor. I love to try out new recipes and add my own "flair" to them. I'm not much into baking so I leave desserts to someone else! I don't really have a favorite thing to cook. If I had to pick something though I'd have to say "soup". You can get really creative with soups and I rarely follow a recipe for them. There's something exciting about throwing a variety of "stuff" in the pot and seeing what happens! Probably Thanksgiving. Everyone brings a side dish (or the ingredients to make it) and my mother, grandmother, two sisters and I converge on the kitchen. Its not so much the cooking as it is the time that the 5 of us spend together, getting in each other's way, critiquing each other's cooking abilities, laughing and trying to make sure SOME of the wine actually goes into the food! :) Anytime I make something edible, I consider it a triumph! :) I made a Fourth of July dessert one year that had three layers of cake with cherry pie filling, custard and blueberry pie filling between the layers. It was gorgeous and I painstakingly decorated the top with fresh blueberries and strawberries. Gorgeous, that is, until I was ready to serve it. My dessert had gotten warm and "melted" -- it was leaning like the Tower of Pisa and was oozing filling everywhere! I was mortified but we all got a good laugh out of it as we decided which angle to take a photo from to get the worst side on film! I gave up on desserts after that so my family knows if they want dessert, they better bring it!