My adventures in cooking began when I was in the 8th grade. My mother asked me to prepare dinner to take some of the burden off of her. She was a single mother of three that worked full-time. The first time that I tackled dinner, she had left me a detailed list of ingredients and preparation instructions. Though I followed her directions almost to a "tee," I was a bit creative and decided to put my own spin on the dish. When Mom proclaimed that it tasted better than when she prepared it, cooking dinner became my official duty. I absolutely love to bake! I am the resident baker at all family gatherings. When it comes to cooking for my family, I enjoy cooking mexican dishes (chile rellenos, carne asada tacos, chilaquilles). Every year at Thanksgiving, my family prepares a traditional Lithuanian dish called rappe (sp?). It is a dense potato dish that is delicious served hot with a dollop of cool sour cream. My pumpkin cheesecake is always a HUGE hit. I've been fortunate in that it always turns out creamy and delicious. In college, I shared an apartment with several buddies of mine. Our first Thanksgiving together I volunteered prepare our feast. Obviously this included preparing, stuffing and cooking the bird. My sister makes the world's best stuffing, so I called and asked for her recipe. Somewhere in the translation, 3/4 of a cup of chopped onions became 3 1/4 of a cup of chopped onions. Quite a difference!