I'm in my early 20s and recently moved from my hometown of Brooklyn, NY to Los Angeles and am living with my girlfriend (who is absolutely amazing for having the patience to deal with having me around full-time) while looking for work/apartments. In my spare time, I love to watch sports, play videogames, work out (that's one I'm hoping to get into more in 2009. Hooray for gym memberships!), go to the beach, read anything and everything I can get my hands on, and of course cook. I love, love, love baseball and beach related activities and am planning to get myself into better shape so I can take up baseball and surfing by summer. Which means I'll also get to incorporate better food into my diet! ...and just like that, I've combined two of my passions. Anything and everything. I'm still learning lots of new things about various foods and cooking techniques, but I'm especially fond of BBQ and grilling. I recently discovered the wonder that is the crock pot and am often more than eager to throw a bunch of ingredients into the slow cooker when I wake up groggy and lazy, go about my day, and come back to a delicious meal in the evening. I've also been known to make a pretty awesome chicken teriyaki. Anything involving holidays. My mom's side of the family is filled with a bunch of talented cooks, so holidays are pretty fondly associated with lots of good food. I have great memories from childhood of baking christmas cookies with my mom, and the potluck nature of our Fourth of July gatherings at my aunt's beach house. Also, every year for my birthday we'd have a barbecue and my mom would prepare her amazing ribs on the grill. To this day, they're some of the best ribs I've had. Anytime I make something that a family member, friend, or my girlfriend raves over I consider it a mini-triumph. I almost started a grease fire in an unfortunate incident involving an unwatched pan of bacon.