hi, my name is emiko and i live in northeast pa. i'm married w/2 kids and 3 step kids. i work full time and my main hobbies are cooking, scrapbooking and reading. i also prepare meals for my father that he can freeze and heat up in the microwave, combining my love for my family and love of cooking. and obviously, one of my favorite tv shows is "buffy the vampire slayer", hence my user name and pic. i have gotten most of my immediate family completely hooked on that show. we pretty much relate to life accoring to a particular episode, lol. i'm definately known for my baking, "the cookie lady". i'm "required" to bake about 10 dozen chocolate chip cookies for our monthly managers meeting at work. otherwise, there are 12 very unhappy men and women. at christmas time, i make about a dozen different kinds of christmas cookies. i love trying new things for dinner as well. my favorites are italian and mexican/latin dishes. my family usually make good guinea pigs and are completely honest. i also try to find out to make something that you can get in a box homemade. i figure, in this economy, if you can make home made w/ingredients you have on hand, the more you can use on other things. also, homemade is so much tastier, and you KNOW what's in it. when my gram was still around, we used make potato pancakes at her house a couple of times during the summer. it was always gram, my mom, myself and my two cousins. later on our kids were in the mix. gram made the best potato pancakes ever. whenever we make them, i always think of her. chocolate chip cookies!!! i use "the best chocolate chip cookie" recipe from this site, 5 stars. the first time i made homemade gravy. what a disaster! lumpy, pasty, no flavor what so ever. luckily, i've lived and learned from my mistakes.