It's taken me several decades to feel settled...both in a location and in my skin. After living in many (many) states, I've found that things are the same no matter where you go. People drive to work, eat out (bad food and good), feed their pets, wash their cars, do their laundry. They sit and listen to the rain on the roof. They cry and argue and laugh about silly things. Well, the lucky ones do. Everywhere families and friends get together at holidays and special times to celebrate and enjoy the company of others. People that care about each other are the glue that holds our lives together. People are more important than things. Thanks for listening. My opinion of life is that dinner is what you eat while you're waiting for dessert to show up. Of course, a good meal along the way doesn't hurt. I love yeast breads, love the feel of a good risen dough. I love the way the kitchen smells when cookies are baking, or chili simmering, or enchiladas are ready to pull from the oven. I'm still trying new things. I'm getting up the nerve to make Madeleines. And rolled fondant. Cooking with family is way better than cooking alone. My brother and I have attempted and failed at making pasta (FYI- don't buy a hokey electric machine at the flea market with no directions and expect good results), I've made holiday meals and appetizers and salads and cookies and pies with my daughter...memories that will last forever. When I try a new recipe and it is fabulous the first time out, is a truly joyful thing. It's very hard for me to make a recipe and not tweak it at all. Recently, I made sugar cookies with a Royal Icing (corn syrup, no egg whites) and they were great! And a focaccia bread from this website turned out better than I could have expected. Looking for new horizons to explore now I once threw away a wedding cake the night before the wedding. It was a stupid octagon shape and when I iced it, it looked like a lumpy round cake. After that, I became braver. I mean, how can you worry about failure once you've tossed an entire wedding cake?