I'm Jenn Garber, and I love to cook! We recently started changing out diet habits to a healthier lifestyle of cooking and eating. I've been experimenting with using whole grains, and have had pretty good success. We eat a lot of fruit and veggies but I still like to use recipes and mess around making things "healthier" yet tasty.
My favorite things to cook
Oh, I like to bake pies. I started about 8 years ago when I met my husband. I was 17 and the pies were so-so. Now, he likes them better than most others he's had in his life, so I've gotten better! The hard part's the crust. It took me about 5 years, but now I've gotten better at it. I really enjoy making cookies, too, because the ingredients and mixing are such that little hands can easily help so that makes them a perfect thing to bake with my three sons (ages 6, 4 and 2).
My favorite family cooking traditions
I like making pies for my husbands and boy's birthdays. My husband's family doesn't like cake very much, so I've continued the tradition of making a birthday pie for him, and now our boys seem to like pie better than cake, so they get a "birthday pie" too. Every summer since I was 17 I've made a strawberry pie for my husband. This year was the "10th annual strawberry pie!"
My cooking triumphs
A few summer's ago I made rhubarb cobbler. I never saw rhubarb before, so I didn't know what would happen. But, my husband said it was the best he's ever had, and he loves the stuff, so I was happy.
My cooking tragedies
The Christmas I made coconut cream pies. I tried to convert the recipe so I could use cornstarch instead of flour. In my haste (I've become a much calmer, laid back cook since) I DOUBLED the amount of flour in my mind and added that much cornstarch. Well, any good cook knows that you HALF the amount of flour then add that much cornstarch. NEEDLESS TO SAY...rubber. YUCK!