I'm a Southern gal & Daddy's Girl! Our Family is the "Hatfields", the famous "Hatfields & McCoys" clans. We are a family of great cooking, great Preachin' & great musical gifts from the Lord. I love serving the Lord & blessing people with food from our garden. I've been singing most all my life & cooking since I was 5 years old at my Mother's side. I have a wonderful husband, "My Bill." I truly learned the art of Southern Cooking from the very best, my Mother, who went home to be with the Lord on a beautiful Sunday morning on 6/24/01. It was my Mother's dream to publish our family cookbook. We published the cookbook... My sister Sherry titled it "Our Family Cooks! Book" & I was given the privilege of writing the dedication to our Mother, Delores Marilu Ward. She was a woman who embraced her Southern Heritage & mastered the art of Southern Cooking. The family cookbook was her dream & we made it a reality in her Honor. Southern Fried Chicken, Steak, Deserts (special church & family deserts), Apple Crisp, Italian Dishes & my absolute favorite, Fried Green Tomatoes!! Preparation for cooking: Put on a Hair Bonnet - Wash my hands up past my elbows - Fill my sink with hot soapy bleach water - Wipe down EVERYTHING before I begin cooking my "masterpiece" - Measuring the ingredients with my hands & knowing when the consistency looks right, it's done! Sharing all of my secret ingredients with my big Sister because we keep it "all in the family"!! We have a little saying that goes like this: "It ain't all in there..." We give our "recipes" to our friends, without our "secret ingredients", look at eachother & snicker... just to have them call us and say, I followed the recipe, but it just didn't taste like yours!! Then me & my Sis are on the phone with eachother cracking up! It's all in good fun ;-) Cooking Thanksgiving Dinner for our whole family. This includes mine & my husbands nieces & nephews, my Daddy, Sister & her family, our 3 kids & their friends, my mother-in law, 4 brothers-in-law & their families, my 2 sisters-in-law & their families & grandchildren & all of my brothers-in-law's friends!! We do this every year and it's wonderful! My husband and I spend 3 months preparing. Several trips to the store & spending over $1000. This is our gift to both of our families! They are most grateful and we are so blessed to be able to do this ;-) Sorry!! I've not really had any cooking tragedies! I experiment all of the time... Many, many times, I say to myself, well, I won't use that or do that again!! I guess those are little "tragedies"! lol ;-)