I grew up as a child of a single parent who worked. As soon as I was able, I was in the kitchen trying to make different things! Now a'days, I'm always looking for new recipes to get my family to get out of their comfort food zone. Anything on the grill (we actually grill all year - even in the snow) and I LOVE making and decorating cupcakes. I love Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. For me that means that I will be surrounded by family that I do not get to see as often. I usually prepare everything from appetizers to dessert. My mom still makes her traditional stuffing. Hands down, pit beef made just right (medium rare, of course) and a meatloaf that DH swears by. Awww, this is so sad. When I was about 12 I decided to make my mom a special 2-layer cake. I put two cake mixes together and divided them up in two pans (can you see where this is going?) ... Needless to say, they overflowed the pan and when I tried to take the cakes out, they cracked down the middle. I called my mom crying over the whole thing.