I live in the northwoods of WI. I always have an ample supply of venison and fish in my freezer! Altho our garden season is a short one, I really like to have the whole family get involved in planting in the spring. I am married to my best friend and we have 2 kids. Aaron, 19 and Leah, 10. We have 4 cats, a long hair dachshund and lots of tropical fish. Hubby and I used to live in Minneapolis,MN but we prefer the rural life. The only thing I miss are the ethnic food stores and farmers markets... Canning is a passion! I often have 2 pressure cookers going and I have been known to pull "all nighters" when it's corn and tomato season.. I grill as often as possible and am really enjoying exploring new vegetarian recipes grilled or otherwise. During the winter, (about 7 months here ) I can usually be found making bread and cookies. I experiment with lots of different flavors when making yeast or sour dough breads. I try and not use commercial foods because I want to know EXACTLY what we are eating. My hubby will eat anything,my son is a vegetarian,and my daughter is a picky eater. One thing the whole family agrees on is SPICY! Each year I can about 500 lbs of tomatoes making sauces and salsas. My kids love getting right in the middle of helping chop and dice. Christmas baking and candy making has become a family gathering time. Lots of fun and laughs in the kitchen ! I was about 11 or 12 and I made fresh bread for when my grandparents came. They asked if it came from the bakery in town. I was thrilled! To this day I am not sure if they really didn't know but that statement all those years ago set me off on a good foot for bread making! I was pressure cooking venison ribs and the pressure release valve "blew" on my cooker! What a mess! I had greasy liquid everywhere. Anyone who has cooked venison ribs knows that the tallow (fat)hardens like wax when cool. I even had to repaint the ceiling from that disaster.... I also have a habit of melting rubber spatulas....