I currently live in Atlanta, GA, but I grew up far from here, on a farm in northeastern Ohio. My grandmother was an excellent cook, but unfortunately she passed away before I was old enough to learn her talents. My mother didn't cook at home, so everything I know has been an exercise in trial-and-error, beginning when I moved away for college and had to start feeding myself. It's been quite a journey! I've recently become a vegetarian, and it has definitely opened up a new world for me in the kitchen! I love making healthy and creative sandwiches, wraps, pitas, dips. Sauces and dressings from scratch are my favorite things to create. I enjoy bringing different cultures into my kitchen, especially Thai and Mediterranean. I also love baking cakes, muffins, cookies... you name it! My family doesn't like to cook, but (luckily), my friends do. At Christmastime, my best friend and I get together and spend an entire day baking cookies of all sorts -- by the end of the day, we are absolutely exhausted... and stuffed full of cookies and tarts and homemade candies! My first Thanksgiving as hostess, in 2006. The menu was New England-style everything, with lots of maple, cranberry, and apple. My family usually prepares holiday meals using lots of boxed mixes - it was nice to be able to treat my family to the "real thing!" Every time I drop a cake layer on the floor, my heart drops right along with it!