I am an at-home mom, I LOVE to cook, and am proud to always provide a hot meal for my husband and daughter. I also love to entertain at home and join potlucks. I enjoy homemade dishes that use fresh ingredients. The canned-easy-to-cook-recipes aren't for me. Southern dishes are definately my favorite. I grew up in Texas, summers in Mississippi, and now live in Washington State. So needless to say, I love to introduce and share food and recipes of my youth with my Pacific Northwest in-laws. I always enjoy a new and exciting combonation of flavors. Not just the same-old same-old dishes. My mom never cooked, but oh boy...could my grandparents! Chicken and Dumplins and cornbread on Christmas. Corned beef, black eyed peas and cabbage on New Years. Giblet gravy, creamy mashed potatoes and cranberry gelatin for Thanksgiving. I am happy to be passing on those traditions to my family now, and establishing new ones of my own. Every dinner party is a triumph. Pulling it off is the key. Having everything hot and ready on time, and still being able to socialize with your guests is most important. But what I can call my biggest triumph is just being able to provide a healthy hot meal for my family. Uh, yea.........tragedies...hmmmm.... WELL when I was first out of college there were plenty. I did not realize I had to cook the sausage before making Sausage Balls. I also did not put enough juice in a Jambalaya dish that would cook the rice accordingly. (CRUNCH!) Did you know that you need to cook the hamburger meat before putting it into the sauce? I have burned PLENTY of cookies, and have undercooked quite a few cakes, custards pies in my time. It is all part of the learning process. My grandmother didn't get so great overnight.