I am a young, married professional and mother of two. I absolutely love to cook and I am always trying new things, whether they are my own creations or things I find online or in recipe books. My only problem is a serious lack of time! I like to cook a wide variety of good, healthy (or at least reasonably so), and inexpensive meals that please everyone from my meat and potatoes husband, to my eats-like-a-bird daughter, to my littlest one who's just starting to enjoy solid food. I love to cook just about everything...I've learned to make some great casseroles - easy and NOT time consuming, and I've also become quite the gourmet at preparing any type of apple dessert because they are my husband's favorite. I also like to take on more challenging recipes every now and again (when I have the time) because I find them fun and a nice change from the norm. I would have to say my favorite family cooking traditions have been passed on to me from my mother and grandmother (Nana), who are both from Ireland. My Nana comes to town every Christmas and the three of us spend a whole day in the kitchen making Irish soda bread, wheaten bread, potato bread, scones, and mince pies. Also, for Christmas dessert, we make our family's own special trifle recipe. YUM!!! I once made a recipe for Chicken Scallopine that was very difficult to follow and I was sure I was going to mess it up. Surprisingly, it turned out famously and has become a family favorite! Crab cakes (which are a favorite of mine) -- I made a recipe that I found off the back of a box one time an they were AWFULLL! The batter was runny, yet the cakes were dry and the recommended temperature for cooking was so high that they were a little on the burnt side after just a few minutes on each side. Also, the smell of canned crab left me so nauseous I couldn't really eat them anyway!