I am a stay at home mom to 2 wonderful kids. I love animals and have 2 dogs, 3 cats, and 1 horse. I enjoy reading, scrapbooking, riding horses, training my Great Dane, gardening and canning what I grow, and feeding friends! I love to make Jams and Jellies to have in our pantry and to give as gifts. I also like to make desserts! I love barbecuing and trying new dishes although my family doesn't always agree! We always have chili on Christmas Eve. The tradition was started by my grandmother so that she didn't have to tend to a big meal or make a big mess on Christmas Eve. That way she could focus on Christmas Day and it's dinner feast. Finally figuring out how to make a roast without cooking it to death and drying it out. How to make an Italian Cream Cake so good that everyone requests it for special functions or just for themselves because I won't give them my recipe! We were having my husbands friend over for a casual dinner...I was a newlywed at the time and was so excited and decided to make a Pineapple Upside-down cake for dessert. We ate our dinner and it was good and then moved on to dessert. The guys took a bite and didn't really say anything...I asked (with my back turned as I was getting my piece) "How is it?" and they kinda mumbled "it's good"...and then didn't say much else. I figured they were eating it up....I took a bite and then realized it was AWFUL and looked at them with this horrified and embarrased look... I'd forgotten to add the sugar to the cake and it was dreadful...poor guys, they didn't want to hurt my feelings! I've never lived it down.