Hubby and I have 4 wonderful kids who fight over their veggies--what a blessing! New food is well received which is a bonus for me because I love to experiment. Cooking is an absolute joy, whether for my family or for a crowd. I love cooking authentic Italian, Greek and other Middle Eastern type dishes. Seafood is popular in my home. So are spicy dishes. I prefer to cook and bake from scratch using fresh ingredients. It really does make a difference in taste. My very first turkey a number of years ago was a monstrous bird that my father-in-law won in a raffle and gave to us for Christmas dinner. I had always been accustomed to my mother-in-laws breast down turkeys, but I wanted to prepare a wonderful golden breast up turkey just like in the magazines and on TV. I researched proper preparation and cooking techniques, used my mother-in-laws awesome stuffing recipe, and waited ever so patiently with my husband for hours and hours and hours. Our parents were over for Christmas dinner...and waiting along with us...the darn thing was so huge it took forever. The results were absolutely spectacular. Golden, juicy, tasty, and the stuffing was just as good as mom's. She was so impressed with the breast up method and the flavour. My husband placed the bird on the table before carving, to take photos of me with it!!! He was so proud of me. Quite a few. Creme caramel that turned into a crystalized crunchy mess (was supposed to bring to a dinner party); a fig desert that I goofed up on and tried to remedy turned into an inedible mess; I dropped a pan of fully cooked lamb roast with potatoes onto the floor (forgot to put the oven mitts back on)--oh, I'm sure there have been more...that's all I can think of right now.