Hi! My name is Abby, and I grew up on a ranch north of Belgrade, MT. My first meal was executed when I was about 5 1/2, and though I don't remember the details, I do remember my parents ate it, anyway! I have always had a passion for all things culinary, and am going to school for an entrepreunership minor in addition to my teaching degree, in the hopes that I will someday be able to open my own catering business, and ultimately a restaraunt. Luckily, my fiance loves to eat and isn't a picky eater, so I get lots of good practice cooking for him! I am notorious for having a penchant for everything italian, and have had my boyfriend almost BEG for a meal that didn't contain tomatoes. However, I consider myself fairly well-rounded, and have commercially cooked many cuisines, notably excepting thai and chinese. Out of neccesity, I have become VERY proficient in cooking game meats (elk, deer, moose, pheasant, grouse, rabbit), as that is what my upbringing, environment, and college budget permits. Who says it can't taste just as good as beef or chicken! :-) My mom makes the best Brandin' Beans and Ham I have EVER tasted, but I think I have mastered her technique...also Abby's Angel Bisquits, which my great-grandmother passed down to me and I just haven't had the heart to pass on to the Allrecipes family yet. When I was working in Yellowstone Nat'l Park cooking for 50 in a program called the YCC, I decided to make the Grand Branding Feast: Ham, homemade baked pork and beans, green bean casserole, cheesy hashbrown casserole, my grandma's sweet wheat dinner rolls, and pecan pie for dessert. About half way through the ham cooking and making the beans, the POWER WENT OUT! However, since we used gas ranges I was able to complete the meal, in a windowless galley, using coleman lanterns hung from the pot racks to light my work. I mixed & kneaded 150 rolls' worth of dough by hand, made a 25 gallon vat of beans, made 10 pecan pies, & carved the ham under this duress. When it was all over, I felt quite accomplished, but also EXHAUSTED! At the same job, I was using the Char-boy grill to make steaks and grilled veggies. When I threw the veggies on the grill, there was an instant flare-up from the olive oil. The flames spread to the grease pan in the bottom of the grill, and in about 10 seconds I had a fiery funeral pier of flat irons and eggplant. We had to used 4 boxes of baking soda to douse the flames, and ended up "charring" more of the walls than the steaks!