I grew up in a household with a father who used to cook wonderful gourmet meals. Food has always been an important part of my life. I cook because I love it! I love experimenting with different ingredients and personalizing recipes to make them my own. I also cook as a way to show love to those I care for. Nothing brings people together like a wonderful home cooked meal, a nice bottle of wine, and great conversation. DESSERTS!!! I love to create anything sweet. Anything with chocolate can get me to at least try the recipe once : ) On New Year's Day, my mother would always make a huge pot of black-eyed peas. In the pot, she would "hide" a dime. The tradition was that whoever found the dime in their serving of black-eyed peas would have good luck for that year. I successfully made my first "real" cheesecake this past Christmas (move over Jello No-Bake!). I made a scrumptious Pumpkin Cheesecake using a recipe from this site. Although it did not completely set up in the middle, it was SO incredibly delicious! The first time I had Thanksgiving at my house and decided to make sweet potatoes. I peeled them and cut them up, and then just popped them in the oven. Even after 45 minutes of baking, they were still hard! I learned after that experience that it is best to boil them before putting them in the oven. Now, I always get rave reviews of my sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving!