Growing up my mother read cookbooks like books. My parents loved cooking together and trying different cuisines. I got hooked my senior year of high school when I took a gourmet cooking class at a local community college. I own over 200 cookbooks and browse the internet for great recipes. My two sisters and I share recipes all the time. I would like to think that my late mother would be very proud of the cook I have become. Comfort food is what my husband of almost 20 years calls it. Recently I have been making great pan fried steaks and expirementing with different pan sauces. I make all my salad dressing from scratch. No store bought stuff at my house. I can make gravey and potato salad the way my mom did and I have almost perfected her famous apple pie. I still have to work on her Chicken Cacciatore. Yhe first time I ever made my beef stroganoff for my now husband turned out awful. He choked down the first bite and said it was great. Then I tasted it and knew he was just being nice, I knew right then that I would marry him.