I'm semi retired living in the middle of the Arizon High desert. I have 5 retired racing greyhounds and a standard poodle. I do some work for Greyhound Adoption. My business also involves dogs and dog products. :) I spend hours each week sewing, quilting and making other goodies! I love to make bread, it makes the house smell so good! Light and low cal dishes are some of my favorites and I enjoy taking old family favorites and paring out the calories and fat! And probably my very favorite is making authentic Mexican food. I love hot and spicy espcially. And living this close to the border, I can easily get my hands on those special ingredients! Family traditions for me are German. I love German food and cook it often. I have many of my Mom's recipes that her Mom gave her and they are great! I've had a few! My best triumph is my tamales, not terribly hard at all, but the process is a bit tedious. When I was a newly wed, my SIL helped me to make beautiful fried chicken.. and at the last minute I put a little salt on it and the lid from the salt fell off. Bless my DH, he ate it anyhow! I've never attempted to fry chicken again. My first turkey wasn't too hot either!