I am a wife and mother of 2 wonderful small children. I work full time, which does not allow me much time to cook, but I do try to change things up in the kitchen so my family doesn't get too bored. I also do charcoal portraits in my spare time. www.sloanportraits.com My husband is from India, so I always welcome learning more about Indian cooking and trying new Indian recipes (especially recipes from southern India and Kerala). We also love mediterranean food, and Mexican and Italian are my all time favorites. We don't have too many traditions, but I do make Eggplant and Italian Sausage Casserole every year for Thanksgiving. It's my mom's recipe and is wonderful (try it!). I think my greatest cooking triumph was when I managed to get my husband, who knows and does not want to know ANYTHING about what goes on in a kitchen, to call his mom in India and get her Kerala chicken curry recipe. She speaks no english, and he isn't the best translator of recipes because measurements get confused. He wrote down the ingredients, and I kind of guessed on measurements, and it actually came out almost just like her recipe that he grew up with. He loved it, and since my husband doesn't really appreciate food that isn't Indian, it was a huge triumph for me because it was the first time he really loved something I cooked. He always tells me something is good if I ask him, but with this, he raved and raved about how wonderful it was. My dog ate the recipe about a month ago (yes, really). So now I've got to start all over again and get the recipe from his mom...but when I do get it back, I'm posting it on this site! We had a chili cook off at our office last year. It was $25 to enter, and the winner got all of the money. I paid my entry fee and was so excited about making my chili. I hadn't made chili in a few years. I thought I knew what I was doing, but I stayed up past midnight making the worst chili ever. I didn't use a recipe, I just winged it. I forfeited the next morning, and lost my $25. There were 14 contestants. Next time, I know where to go for a good recipe!