I'm a thirtysomething recovering vegan who, although she has gone back to turkey on Thanksgiving, still loves tofu and couscous. I'm married to a professional chef and have been known to help out with his friends' catering exploits from time to time, especially as a bartender. I do office work and accounting for a living and sell handmade Rosaries on the side. My husband and I love fermented foods, so we homebrewed all the beer and cider for our wedding. We also love sauerkraut, kimchee, and pickles of every stripe. Our made-from-scratch sourdough starter is considered a pet. I have also loved making candy since Home Ec in high school, and Divinity is one of my very favorite things. Every year, my family and I make breakfast for someone who has to work on Christmas morning. It's usually a casserole or a quiche. I love seeing people's faces when they find out someone has remembered them on the holiday. I made my very first Christmas dinner when I was 18 years old. It ended up taking much longer than expected, but the turkey was the most perfect thing anyone had ever seen and my family loved the homemade eggnog. I won a PETA essay contest one year and they sent me a Tofurkey as a prize. I cooked it for Thanksgiving and served it to my family, who was not vegetarian. I enjoyed it, and everyone else said at the time that it was great, but for years they talked behind my back about how bad it was.