I started out as a reluctant cook, but thanks to All recipes, I'm getting better and therefore enjoy it more! I am a medical technician by day but my passion is animals. I volunteer with a local rescue group and I LOVE to foster homeless dogs while they wait for their forever homes. I have a black lab and a cat, and also in the photo, Hank who is an AWESOME dog I fostered until he got adopted and his new family thinks he's just the greatest, (and they are absolutely right)!! I still miss all 35 (and counting) of my fur babies, but they are safe, well fed, and loved every day in their new homes!! I am married since 2002 and my husband is the voice of reason who keeps me from having 25 animals. He has pretty boring taste in food so my biggest challenge is finding things tasty enough for me, but not too 'strange' for him. The dogs enjoy just about anything I drop on the floor, though, LOL!! Easy things only!! If it is too labor intensive, or if it uses tons of ingredients I would never use for anything else it is just a waste of my time. I am lazy, so it just has to be easy and tasty. I like a lot of vegetables but again, the hubby is not so keen on them, so usually I end up with a meat, a starch and some fresh veggies on the side that only I eat. Oh well! I try to sneak veggies into things when I think I can get away with it, but never onions, those are off limits for the husband. My mom is NOT a great cook...sorry, but it's the truth. Spaghetti sauce was a can of tomato sauce and seasoning on a steak or chop meant salt and pepper...maybe some Lawry's if she was feeling adventurous. So I've had to learn most of my 'skills' (if you can call them that) on my own. And my dad??? Well, his cooking triumph is the 'hot dog omelet'. So that pretty much sums it up. Gross!!! my chicken fried steak turned out to be rock hard hockey pucks. if i threw them through glass it would shatter. We had tons of people over helping us cut down a tree and I fired up the grill for hot dogs and brats. I waited and waited for the coals to get a little cooler, but it was taking forever, so finally I just plopped them on and they all exploded...every last one! Turns out, you have to actually REMOVE the ashes from the bottom of the grill every so often, who knew? I felt like a great big dummy, but at least now I know better!