I'm a mom to 4 awesome kids, and grandma to 2 sweethearts, with a new grandbaby on the way! My oldest son is a SGT in the US Army, my oldest daughter is a fantastic mom and lives in Ohio, and then we have 2 still in high school. Our lives are crazy, running to all thier activities, plus having our own business to take care of. When I'm not running around like a crazy woman, I love to cook, quilt, and soak up a great book! I'm really into grilling right now, and have also bought an infrared turkey cooker...it is definately a new and exciting toy!!! Mmmm...love that BBQ!!! I love to smoke brisket, pork loin, ribs...well, you name it, and I'll try to smoke it at least once!!! I really love to cook outside, whether it be with a smoker, gas grill, charcoal, or my new infrared cooker. I'm definately enjoying experimenting with different marinades and rubs to tantalize the taste buds!!! My fondest cooking traditions revolve around my family. My grandmother, Nammie, was a wonderful cook who expressed her love to her family with hearty, down-home comfort food. The laughter and love that was shared in her kitchen is what I'd like to be remembered for with my own family. I have learned to slow down...this has been the hardest lesson for me to learn, but has immensely helped my cooking!!! Our little town has one of the best fireworks displays around, and our backyard backs up somewhat to the park where they shoot them off at. Our 3rd of July bash is now attended by 70-80 friends and loved ones, who are all begging for smoked brisket, chicken, and ribs, along with my smoked corn on the cob! People start asking for invites in January!!! One Thanksgiving Day we were living away from family and had friends over to eat. My husband had bragged for weeks about my cooking prowess. Bad, bad, BAD!!! I had bought a beautiful serving bowl to use for some veggies, and did the unthinkable...poured hot stuff directly from the burner into the bowl, then sat on the table. The extreme hot touched the cool table, and my bowl exploded into millions of shards of glass...all in our Thanksgiving dinner. So, since the turkey was still on the smoker keeping warm, we ended up having just turkey sandwiches for dinner. Bad deal, but treasured memories, AND a good laugh!