Growing up I wasn't allowed to do much in the kitchen, so, by the time I was out of college I realized I didn't know how to cook and considered it a chore. Every time I had a dinner party - what should have been fun turned into a stressful event for me. I followed recipes, but, it seemed they never turned out. When I got married , I learned my husband is one of those cooks who never follows a recipe and just seems to "know" what goes together and it turns out wonderful. After watching him, watching all those cooking shows, and this site I suddenly discovered what used to be a chore was now something I loved to do. I found a style of my own and discovered it really is ok to put your own spin on a recipe. My husband used to do most of the cooking and now I cook every night and love it! My husband thinks I have turned into a great cook and I get compliments all of time from co-workers and family on my dishes. I never thought that would happen and it is really rewarding. I like to cook just about everything. Probably my favorite things though are pasta (so versatile) and desserts. Most of our family food traditions revolved around holidays. It was the time of the year when everything on the table was a casserole of some sort. They were always good though and we all looked foward to having them. My Father's Mother died when I was just a toddler. She was a professional baker and I have seen pictures of her amazing cakes and heard about her wonderful recipes. His favorite cake she made was a Lane Cake and she adapted a basic recipe to make it her own. It was my Dad's favorite and he talked about it all of the time but only got it once in a while when his sister (who inherited the secret recipe) would make it for him. I FINALLY persuaded my Aunt to give me the coveted recipe and surprised my Dad last Christmas with it. He absolutely loved it and it really brought back a lot of memories - so, this will be our new Christmas tradition. First - is my lasagna. I pulled from various recipes I have found through the years and added my own twist to it. I make homeade sauce the day before and let it sit overnight so the flavors enhance. Everyone that tries it says it is the best lasagna they have tasted and I have requests for it all the time. The second is probably the Lane Cake I mentioned above. I made it once and it turned out great. Fingers crossed it turns out again this year! Lastly, is my whole baked chicken. It is very simply done, but, comes out flavorul and juicy every time. Probably my biggest problem is with red meat. I used to be a vegetarian, so, trying to cook something very basic like a steak or even a hamburger is very difficult for me. I seem to always overcook them and then they are dry, dry, dry. For now - that may have to stay my husband's job!