I am a stay at home grandma of two precious grandchildren, and mom of two grown sons. My interests are crocheting, fitness health, walking, photography, collecting recipes and recipe books, cooking, and baking. I also sell crochet books on Ebay. I love trying new recipes and love to adapt them to what I feel is the perfect combination of flavors. Allrecipes has made the search for new recipes so much easier and less time consuming. I use to spend hours going through my recipe books looking for a particular recipe or for a new one to try. I still have my recipe book collection, but Allrecipes is my favorite recipe search tool. My first love is for baking, cookies and bars are my favorite. Cooking is something I enjoy most when it is for a crowd, it gives me an opportunity to try new recipes that my family would not appreciate, or maybe even try. I am always looking for an interesting crowd pleaser salad recipe. As the years have gone by I have found the more creative side of myself and am not afraid to experiment or adapt a recipe to my and my families personal preferences, it makes cooking and baking even more interesting and fun. An Italian menu has become tradition in my home on Christmas Eve. My favorite holiday to cook for is Thanksgiving, a day that is reserved for many of the recipes I grew up with, those passed down from my mom. Winning ribbons for my cream filled cupcakes and my lemon poppyseed cookies at the Minnesota State Fair. I have had many, but it becomes an opportunity to learn what works and what doesn't work with each recipe. I believe it makes me a better cook the next time around. Tip: Make notes about changes made to each recipe so that you have a record. I am always adapting recipes and do not always remember what changes I make. I also rate each recipe that I try.