I grew up and currently live on a farm in rural America! I love where I live, however there are disadvantages. My commute is over an hour and we are 30 minutes away from the nearest grocery store. I am very busy and don't have time to stop for groceries every 3 or 4 days, so this forces me to be a little more creative in my cooking - I like the recipes that are quick and use things I already have in my pantry or are common grocery items that I may have on hand. Allrecipes.com has REALLY helped me save time by being able to search for those kinds of recipes! I love to bake! And when I have time, I love to make everything from scratch. One of my favorite cakes from scratch is a One-two-three-four Cake II paired with Butter Cream Frosting I. Soups and stew in the slow cooker are other thing I love to cook! I actually hated cooking when growing up. I was a "tom-boy" and always wanted to be outside. My mom tried so hard to teach me cooking techniques. I started cooking in college and actually really loved it. AND, all those thing my mom taught me actually stuck and came in handy when I needed it.