Cooking is my passion! I'm trained as a civil engineer, but right now I'm working part-time in the natural foods section of a grocery store. I really like it, I get to be around food and it gives me more time to spend in my favorite place - the kitchen! I've been cooking since I was about 10 years old and my mom was in the hospital, I had to take over a lot of the kitchen duties. I'm married to a wonderful guy and have two black pugs. When I'm not cooking or working, I'm reading, taking pretty pictures, making jewelry, or exercising. My favorite things to cook are also my favorite to eat - desserts! I love baking cakes, muffins, cookies and bars. On the flip side, I am a cancer survivor and my husband has MS, so good nutrition is very important to us. I cook a lot of salmon, veggies and whole grains. I also love to cook food that is more gourmet, things that go well with a nice bottle of wine. Both of my parents are excellent chefs and we have a lot of traditional family recipes that I make throughout the year and holidays. For the past 5 years Sunday nights are when I make new or "fancier" meals for my husband and I to enjoy before starting a new week. We pop open a bottle of wine and enjoy each other's company and a great meal. My raspberry chocolate truffle cheesecake. I made it for my sister's wedding shower and it was the hit of the party. Turtle Dove Cake is my husband's favorite, so rich it's to die for! I make it every year for his birthday. In college I tried to make carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. The cake turned out fine, but I tried making the frosting with low fat butter and cream cheese. It was a soupy mess! I learned that you have to use the real stuff when baking!