I grew up with traditional foods, my parents are from the Great Lakes area, but I grew up in PA Dutch country. A wonderful area for food! I like to experiment with new foods, but tend to stay more on the comfort-food side most of the time. I love to bake desserts, but don't usually have much time. I make homemade soups very often, my oldest son loves to help, I think he could do it all by himself if he needed to now. I enjoy candy making, I've learned to make fudge from "Allrecipes". My kids really enjoy taste-testing new recipes! I really enjoy making Thanksgiving Dinner, especially now that my kids are old enough to help. My oldest enjoys helping me cook and bake, and is becoming a very good cook himself. I tried to make Sweet Potato Balls for Thanksgiving in 2004. They were going well, until the whole pan landed up-side down on the floor!