Married w/ pets + three kids and six grandkids. Retired after 30 years of teaching grades K-7. Moved to NM 8 years ago. Love it here. We are very busy w/ church activies: working to start a daughter congregation in another part of the city. I also volunteer at "Turning Point," a pregnancy care center that just open here in August of 2010. Love to read - mostly historical fiction and mysteries. I love to make soups. Chili, beef vegetable, ham and bean,and tortilla soups are our favs. I like casseroles - one dish dinners are the best! I think the slow cooker is about the best cooking aid in my kitchen. I love to try new recipes, that's what makes this a super website; that and all the cool contributors. Anything I did with my grandmother! Thanksgiving at Grandma's house was the best. She wanted to do it all - and she was a great cook. Making taffy with her was such a treat! I remember the first time she made pizza (from a box). She wasn't too sure about pizza! But in the mid 1950's, none of us midwesterners were too sure about pizza! When I was 13, I entered seven different baked goods (mostly cakes) in open class at the fair, competing against adult cooks with great records. I took first place with all but one entry, which got a second place ribbon. Looking back over the years, my biggest tragedy was making gravy...but thanks to CindyLepp, it is no longer a challenge! She sent me packets of dry gravy mixes!