I am 27 and I live with my boyfriend and our 3 daughters and 2 dogs. I love to cook and bake, and am an avid gardener. I keep flower, herb and vegetable gardens, and use a lot of fresh ingredients from my yard in my cooking. I love to bake sweet treats, but I also love to experiment. I get creative with some of my main dishes. I love to eat breakfast foods and comfort foods, so I often cook those things. My name, Eliza, is after my mother's grandmother (my great-grandmother) who I never actually met, but she loved to bake. Well into her nineties she would make baked goods for all of her neighbors and loved ones at the Holidays. I inherited her name, her love for baking, and the best banana bread recipe in the world! My love and I hosted a family party for his side of the family one Christmas, and I successfully made traditional Chilean beef empanadas that his whole family loved! They turned out perfect and delicious! His family is from Vina Del Mar, Chile - and they know empanadas! Every year I make my father's birthday cake. He loves carrot cake and so each year, like a good daughter, I do my best to produce a moist, delicious, and made from scratch carrot cake. When this tradition first started several years ago, I had two years in a row where I completely ruined the cake. The first year, I used a large can of crushed pineapple (like 24oz) in a recipe that called for a small can (approximately 8oz). The cake turned out more like a very sweet and pineappley bread pudding. It was aweful! The second year, I over cooked it and it tasted terribly burnt. My father is 72 now, and I am pleased that this past Memorial Day - his cake was a delicous success!