I'm a pretty decent cook, but it's been several years since cooking held any interest for me. I'm getting back into it and really enjoying puttering around in my kitchen. I don't like recipes with lots of ingredients or lots of steps. I'm all about easy. I love to use my crockpot for easy weeknight entrees and to cook chicken for the base of other recipes. I love pasta of all sorts and make pasta salad often in the summer months. I like to bake, but only in the winter. I try not to fire up the oven during the summer since it makes the A/C in my already-hot Texas home work overtime. I look forward to the first cold weekend of the year just so I can make a pot of my special chili. Thanksgiving, of course, means special family traditions too, like both mincemeat and cornbread dressings, Ambrosia, and Mom's Sweet Potato Balls - and old Southern Living recipe which MUST be on the table, even though few of us are brave enough to eat it! Christmas is not complete without Swedish Spritz cookies from the cookie press and hot Dr. Pepper with lemon. (Can you tell we're Southern?) I married a New Jersey boy with a 100% Italian mom. The wonderful things from her kitchen inspire me to use good, fresh ingredients. My favorite thing on her table is simple - fresh mozzarella with basil and tomatoes and olive oil. And trips to visit the New Jersey relatives make me crave cannoli and pizzelle. I plan on adding those to my repertoire soon. My chili - although it's not your typical Texan chili and I risk being shunned for putting beans in it. It's goooood. Really, most of my triumphs are recent endeavors using 5-star rated recipes here on allrecipes.com. Y'all make me look good. Thanks! When I was a newlywed, I got a little crazy with some chicken breasts, adding odd ingredients from my spice cabinet, like cinammon and ginger. It was AWFUL! Also, I learned that pouring beer over meatloaf is NOT a good idea. ;)