I work in publicity and marketing in the music industry. This does not leave me much time to cook, so I cherish the time I can spend in the kitchen. I love to try new things, and my husband's opinion is the barometer of my success. I've become enamored of Italian and Meditteranean style cooking, and my thick and tangy marina sauce garners rave reviews. My eggplant parmigiana is definitely my best, though time consuming to prepare, so the end result is especially sweet. My family has an Eastern European background. Due to that, I cook a lot of chicken soup! My mom is a prolific cook and I hope to carry on that tradition. I have always wanted to cook but was never very successful at it. I immediately wanted to follow my own instincts instead of directions. My ultimate triumph was learning to follow directions and then follow my own instincts, and not the other way around. Now everyone compliments me on my cooking! I once forgot to put sugar in an apple cake I baked for my family. Oops!