Hello everyone,I'm a 25 year old single mom college student. Just one more semester! I've been cooking since I was about 13, when I made blueberry pancakes to surprise my parents...almost set the house on fire! I am always watching something on Food Network...usually Paula Deen, Tyler, Guy, or Emeril. I also love Good Eats, Unwrapped, and Guy's Big Bite. I love to cook for my family and friends. I am always bringing some kind of dessert to work. They're my own personal guinea pigs! Don't worry, they don't complain too much. When I'm not cooking or learning about cooking, I spend time with my daughter(that's the number 1 priority)and boyfriend. I love going to Mass on Sunday...it just centers me for the rest of my week! I am also passionate about reading. I'm right in the middle of Gone With the Wind right now. I'll let you know how it turns out. ;) I love to bake. In fact, people sometimes think all I can do is bake! But I also love to cook traditional foods, like shrimp and grits and gumbo. I try to make one or two new things every week, which is always fun. But, truth be told, baking is my first love. I love to make cakes, pies, cookies, muffins, candy, you name it. I just invented a new brownie recipe that I'm going to post soon hopefully. Just have to work a couple kinks out! We always always always bake Biscochitos, a Mexican sugar cookie with anise seed, around Christmas. My mom was born in New Mexico and her grandparents were from Mexico, so it's a tradition that's been handed down. We always have to make sure we bake enough for friends as well. My hairdresser in particular gets pretty peeved if she doesn't have her cookies by mid-December. Haha, just kidding Sandy! I made tiramisu recently and it turned out great! I was a little worried though since it's kinda fancy. I also made gumbo, French bread, and bread pudding with creme anglaise sauce for 60 of my mother's friends. It was a little tough doing it by myself but still fun! I also consider it a triumph when I find a recipe that I know I can make well--like my spaghetti and meatballs, blueberry muffins, gumbo, or pulled pork. One of the worst things I've made was red velvet cupcakes. I told myself before I started, "You should probably clean out the oven first. It's looking pretty dirty." But nooo. I went ahead. And some dried on food on the bottom caught on fire. And black smoke filled the kitchen. And the cupcakes were more or less charcoal briquettes. The worst part was that I was making them for an important function at my friends church. Oops. Ah well, live and learn!