Hello, to all fellow Allrecipes cooks! Okay, so I'm a little bit addicted to cooking ;-)! I live in sunny Brisbane, Queensland, Australia with my wonderful family. I've decided to add a COOKING TIP occasionally, so keep an eye out for them! TIP - To get bits of eggshell out of your raw egg, use a large part of the broken shell to scoop it out. The shell cuts right through the white and makes it effortless! TIP - If you need somewhere to rise your bread on a cold day, put your loaf in a cold oven and place a tray of boiling water on the tray beneath and close the door. The steam will help the dough rise and be out of sight from kids and pets. TIP - If you have a recipe that creams butter and sugar until pale and are adding zest, make sure to add the zest with the butter at the creaming stage. The batter will hold the taste of the zest very well as it's incorporated at this beginning stage. I try new things all the time and I seem to go through months of various recipes, take a break for a little while and come back again. I can't help myself! I'm getting better with yeast breads and different ethnic dishes. I'm also trying my hand at staples now, like bread, butter, jams etc. I enjoy making fun dishes for my children like cookies, pikelets and cakes and using normal, everyday ingredients to make a fabulous dinner. The weather is becoming cooler now, so I find myself using my George Foreman all the time to grill thickly sliced vegetables. I'm trying a lot of different recipes, warm salads and just generally seeing what's in season at the markets. My father and mother taught me how to cook and all my siblings can cook well too. I was never given a completely free rein in the kitchen as a child or teenager, but now there's no holding back! I teach my children the fun of cooking, how it can be exciting to mix, create and eat. My three children are definitely cake bowl and beater lickers. I have a few things up my sleeve now. I make really good cookies and pikelets and I would have to say my biggest cooking triumph would be that I'm teaching my kids how to learn to love cooking in the kitchen. Pumpkin sauce with mince. Ugh. Don't ask. It was a bad mistake. I had too much pumpkin and ground beef. LOL. Hubby still ate it, even though I didn't. He's sweet like that.