I am married to a wonderful man (who is a much better cook than I). We have 4 kids (2 boys, 2 girls), and we live in a semi-country setting raising horses, bunnies, dogs and a variety of other animals. I enjoy baking and cooking big holiday/special occasional meals. There seems to be something so festive about preparing a big holiday meal for one's friends and extended family. For every family gathering, we always have shrimp cocktail for an appetizer with our family "signature" drink that has been affectionately called a Root Beer Float---but it's just basically our version of a Smith and Kerns cocktail. Celebrations just don't seem the same without shrimp and a root beer float. After taking a series of cake decorating classes, the "final exam" for the intermediate class was to make a tiered cake. I made a two-tier wedding cake with roses and daisies cascading down the sides of the tiers. I took photos of nearly every project I made for those classes--except that wedding cake! That was the only disappointing thing about that project, because I have no reminder of how well the cake turned out. I remember the first time I was old enough to be of real help in the kitchen....I must have been around 11 or 12 years old at the time. My mom let me help prepare our Thanksgiving dinner that year. I worked really, really hard to be sure the mashed potatoes were absolutely perfect. And they turned out beautifully---fluffy, steaming hot, and tasty....not a lump in site! And I proudly walked that perfect bowl of fresh, hot mashed potatoes to the dinner table....and promptly tripped on a throw rug. The mashed potatoes landed on the dining room carpet, bowl side up of course (Murphy's Law in action), with the mashed potatoes firmly ground into the carpet fibers. What a mess (and embarrassment) that was!