I have a wonderful husband and three amusing children under the age of six. Growing up, I never understood why my mom loved cooking so much. I preferred the eating part:) But I have really started to enjoy it myself over the past three years. I think that is partly because our budget is not quite as strict as it once was and I have more room to experiment with different ingredients. This website has also really helped me to learn more about cooking and access more recipes. It really helps to have other cooks reviewing the recipes and giving tips. I will start of by saying that I am not much of a baker but I am learning to be at the request of my children. I was a real health nut for a while and it kept me from making many desserts but "everything in moderation" has become my new motto. I still mostly enjoy cooking a hearty, healthy meal. I have to admit that my favorite part of the whole cooking experience is eating the end product! I love Mexican food and it has been really fun to take some of my grandmother's recipes and make them for my family. Since I don't have much of a connection to my Mexican heritage (I didn't grown up with very much exposure to the culture and don't speak a lick of spanish,) cooking makes me feel connected and brings back a lot of fond childhood memories. My mom is a good cook and my brothers and my father have always been sort of snobby when it comes to cooking (Mom's is always best!) So it is always an ego booster to hear good comments coming from them about my own cooking. I have been trying to cook more for my extended family as my cooking confidence increases. I must say, I can now make a mean lasagna! When I was pregnant with my first child, I went through a really emotional time, especially since I had just moved far away from my extended family and had extreme "morning sickness." My husband loves to remind me of the fall evening when he was outside working on our car and I was attempting to make a "real dinner" for him in our tiny apartment. After working on dinner all evening, I found that I didn't have any foil so I put a plastic lid over the pasta dish I was making and sent it right into the oven. My husband heard me yelling out the window for him to "come upstairs, because I did something really stupid!" That plastic lid had melted right over the top of the dish I had been slaving over all evening. Needless to say, we threw that dish out and ended up eating a gourmet meal of Taco Bell.