I am a nurse practitioner, who is now at home full time with 3 1/2 year old twins I adopted from Russia. Cooking for me is a necessity for keeping my family well fead and keeping us true to our monetary budget. I like to cook, be find it hard these days to do the creative, gourmet cooking I enjoy. These days, I have turned in my gourmet cookbooks for recipes that are economical and easy to prepare. I like foods like casseroles, which can be made ahead or frozen. I love soups, especially roasted butternut squash soup. I like steak and hamburger, only on occasion. Chicken seems to be a staple in our house and the more creative ways to prepare it, the better. I also love to prepare quick a quick stir fry. Making Norwegian krumkage cookies at Christmas time. They are time consuming to make, but worth the effort. I also like to make home made breads for gifts around the holidays. Each year I would prepare Philipino lumpia for our church missions gathering. It was always a big hit and the first thing to go on the table. I learned to make lumpia from a Philipino nurse I worked with once in Japan. Fortunately, I don't have any terrible tragedies-yet. No wait, I did start a small kitchen fire once when a pot holder caught fire.