I'm forty four years old and a romance novelist, with several published titles. I also have published pieces in several Chicken Soup books. In my free time, I play with my four boys, Siberian husky and husband of thirteen years. I love to travel and bring my travels into the kitchen, in menus from around the world. I also am a triathlete, but snail slow and the biggest broad out there. I love cookbooks. I collect them and read them like novels. Anything I find in a cookbook that I want to make, I jump into. I rarely follow a recipe exactly and think measuing is for baking, only. There is very little I won't tackle, but my favorites are comfort foods that my mom used to cook. Recently, I've begun phasing meat out of my diet. Not for any wonderful reasons, it just does not taste right to me. I have no idea how long this will last, or if it might be permanant. I cook a broad range of foods and find I do not miss it. My Mom died when I was young (16) but I find myself again, and again turning to the recipes she made. Sunday roasts and Lemon meringue Pies along with herb breads are frequent visitors to my table. I also love fresh herbs and vegetables and cook with them as often as possible. After numerous tries and failures I now can bake a fabulous pie. My crusts are always flaky! I also make wonderful Stews and Soups, as well as killer Pot Roast. Too numerous to count. I don't always follow directions, which is great when you cook and not so hot when you bake. The number one failure, that sticks out in my mind, is the Chocolate Cake Batter on the Ceiling incident of 1976. I was banished from my mom's kitchen after that. I'm pretty sure there is still some batter up there, hiding in the nooks and crannies of my dad's house.