I have been cooking since I was a child. In fact, when I was seven, I opened a Saturday lunch restaurant to serve my family (and make some extra money). I have always loved to cook. It's more than the end result. It's the process: the meditative act of kneading bread and the grounding effect of preparing your own food. Cooking is artistic and it's also a way of showing love to others. Healthy, delicious food. I also have a sweet tooth! Southern Cooking....I come from a family of great cooks. A "comfort meal" consists of black-eyed peas, cornbread, sweet potatoes, greens, and fried okra. As a teenager, I made a gourmet Blueberry Tart. It took me hours to complete the task. It was worth it. The result was a perfect, melt in your mouth dessert. My family was so impressed. We still talk about it to this day. I have not made the recipe since, but I still remember how the experience gave me confidence as a cook. When I was learning to cook, I made an apple cake that was terrible! It looked like there were slices of ham in it! It also had no flavor. I threw the entire thing in the trash. I learned about "botched" recipes from that. Also, one time I was taking a freshly baked apple pie out of the oven and dropped it upside down on the oven door! I had to scoop it back into the pan. It was a horrible mess to clean up too.