I grew up a Navy brat in Maryland then dad retired and we went to Nashville Tn. Got a lot of my cooking skills there before moving to Denver 20 years ago. I can still correct any cooking mistake with gravy! I am an avid skier in winter. I am extremely adventuresome. I love Vietnamese and Thai food probably better than anything else. I have a real problem trying to cook it though. The ingredients are unfamiliar and translation is difficult. Often in the Asian markets the label reads #*&^^%$#, LOL what do you do with that? My mother was strictly Italian in cooking if Ragu counts. Looking back she was a terrible cook (sorry Ma) Until I got out on my own my body was the product of meatballs, marinara sauce, pasta and cheese. We ate little else (besides those awesome cafeteria meals in school) when I was growing up. You can, of course factor in Lasagna, Ziti, Spaghetti, Gnocci and Manicotti. My dad had the worst heartburn of any human I ever knew. Now I know it was all the tomato sauce we constantly ate. My Italian stuffed shells. Some stuffed with Italian sausage, some with ground beef, some with different Italian cheeses. One day I'll submit the recipe (maybe). I have always been a bragger on my baking skills, particularly my expertice in baking breads. After moving to Denver I took some cloverleaf rolls to a dinner and they were (no lie) hockey pucks. The altitude here has humbled me.