Raised in Cape Girardeau, MO, moved to Tulsa, OK as a newlywed in 1989, have been in the Heart of Dixie on the shores of Mobile Bay for almost three years. Cheesecake seems to have become my specialty along with a couple of salads my friends and co-workers often request. Our favorite dinner as kids is also one of my favorites although I seldom make it anymore...Mom's fried chicken, white rice, peas and milk gravy. Mom's Thanksgiving/Christmas menu changed very little over the years...roast turkey, giblet gravy, herbed cornbread stuffing with pecans, creamed peas with pearl onions, candied carrots or dill carrots, 2 types of ice cream pie for dessert with warm chocolate sauce served in a sterling silver cream pitcher. After I married, Mom added green bean casserole to the menu since it's one of my husband's holiday favorites. My first turkeys. Roasting bags are a wonderful thing! I only cook them for others though. When we have turkey here at our house Hubby always cooks them on the Weber...Wow! As a newlywed I used a small saucepan to make brown gravy from a packet. I served it to Hubby over a serving of roast. He began eating and then asked what was in the gravy. I said it's just from a packet, but he had a funny look on his face. I then tried the gravy and realized the scent of the potpourri I had recently simmered in the same pan had permanently flavored the pan and had transferred to the gravy! NOT tasty at all! We still refer to the incident as "...remember the potpourri gravy?"