I am a stay at home mother, for about 5 years now. Going from career woman to housewife was harder than I thought it would be so I dove into any hobby I could find to occupy my down time. That's when I started to cook in earnest. Before that, I could make a few dishes but had little interest in making food myself. I quickly found that I loved it! As a child, I was always just an observer in my grandmother's kitchen but chopping veggies and kneading dough with my own hands brought back all the pleasant memories from my childhood and I was hooked! I love cooking Southern food. I had just moved from New York to Virginia when the cooking bug bit so naturally, southern cuisine was one of my first experiments. I also love decorating cakes for my kids birthdays - not very good at it yet but luckily they impress easily. My grandmother could make the BEST pies ever! Her crust was so perfectly flakey. I've tried and tried but still can't consistantly get it to turn out like hers. My family was of German descent and my husband's family is of German and Polish descent so there is a heavy Pennsylvania Dutch and Polish influence to my dishes. I just love the sweet and sour aspect of that type of food. Also, we have lived in many different parts of the East Coast and everywhere I've live, I've picked up some regional dishes - Buffalo wings, Spiedies, Pizelles, Fried Chicken, etc.. Chicken Parm. is one of my best dishes. Crab rangoons took me at least a half dozen attempts before I got it right - that was a proud moment. The first time I made a perfect piece of Southern fried chicken, I think I almost cried. Hollandaise sauce - I know I'm not the only one! Rice - for some reason this simplest of side dishes eludes me, never fluffy, always too soggy.