My husband and children are responsible for my love of cooking and baking, because they have always been such willing guinea pigs and adventuresome eaters. My husband enjoys helping in the kitchen and both my son and daughter have developed into good cooks and bakers. I have worked as a teacher, consultant and administrator in Special Education for over 35 years and love the challenges. I especially love beginnings (appetizers) and endings (desserts)of meal preparation, but enjoy cooking and baking anything. I am usually asked to bring dessert to parties, but have been trying to train my friends to allow me to bring other things... I really enjoy trying something new! Bread baking and cookie making both come to mind when I think of together-time in the kitchen. I especially enjoy the week before Winter Break, because my young adult children and I (all educators) make candies, cookies, and yeast breads to bring in as presents for others. Semi finalist in the 2007 Chefs.com competition for Brian's Cheesecake. Grand Prize winner for the 2007 Nordic Ware Bundts Across America contest. I made a Mint Mountain cake, and was flown to NY to be in the audience of a Martha Stewart show. NY was wonderful, Martha was very gracious and kind, and the Nordic Ware company and representatives are exceptionally nice. My very first Christmas Eve dinner (seafood stew) for my in-laws: Here is a classic example of why you should practice before serving something new. It tasted so bad, we ended up just eating salad, bread and dessert, even though my sweet father in law tried to pretend it was "interesting and just fine." I'm afraid I still use friends and family as guinea pigs, though, so I obviously haven't learned my lesson!