I work for Salon Centric, a professional beauty supply owned by L'Oreal. I love beauty products and the beauty industry in general. But I have a secret(or not so secret!)passion for cooking. I love trying new recipes and sharing the keepers. I have a husband (JR) and two dogs (Duke and Domino). I love theatre, both going to, and acting in. Love music, especially Frank Sinatra and They Might Be Giants. I have little patience for excuses and people that are full of ! Anything chocolate! I love baking and I have a new love of canning, especially if it's plum jam! Swedish buns. I remember my grandmother, in her 80's, making a good three batches, by hand, in one day. This including grinding the cardamom by hand(anyone who's done that knows that it SUCKS!), kneading, and rolling each bun by hand. I can't help but feel a tiny bit inadequate when I'm beat after one batch, especially because my kitchen aid does most of the work! One of my favorite cooking triumphs was making a HUGE batch of veggie korma and garlic naan all from scratch. Indian ingredients are not cheap so it was nice to see everything come together so well. Also, I think anyone's first successful loaf of bread should be a triumph(see tragedies below!). There's something therapeutic about making homemade bread, plus I get a confidence boost everytime I see that rising dough poking over the side of the bowl! I've thrown away many defunct dough balls that failed to rise in my quest for the perfect bread recipe. All wrapped in a plastic bag to hide my shame! My worst tragedy was when I tried to make the Pear Honey recipe from this website. I cooked those dang pears all day long trying to get the right consistency, then spent two more hours getting them canned and sealed. The result was a vaguely pear-tasting gelantinous brick that would better be served as attic insulation. Not one of my finer moments, to be sure.