I am largely a self-taught cook and have an embarrassingly large cookbook collection. I've been a vegetarian for eight years, and I've done some food writing. I have an MBA in Operations Management, I teach cake decorating classes, and I've been happily married for over 11 years. Double cherry pie, tempeh marsala with garlic mashed potatoes, barbecued tempeh with homemade barbecue sauce and almost any pasta dish. Cooking holiday meals with old family recipes-- our special version of cornbread dressing that my maternal grandmother developed in the years after WWII and the sour cream pie recipe created by my paternal grandmother. Working with a team of volunteers as head cook to create special banquets for up to 150 people.