I'm newly married, and enjoy my dominion over the kitchen. I have a very easy-to-please husband, who encourages experimentation, but who also reminds me of the budget. I love to make soup and bread, because they're very healthy, easy, satisfying, but available for endless variation. I love holiday meals, especially the planning, preparation, and expectation of others' enjoyment. I recently baked a pumpkin pie for the first time, and our guest, whose favorite kind of pie happens to be pumpkin, acknowledged it as the best she'd ever had. My husband's birthday cake. I tried to give him what he wanted (chocolate, cream cheese frosting)and keep it healthy, and the result was something neither delicious, nor particularly cake-like. He dutifully ate almost the entire pan. I'm a blessed woman.