Hi! My name is Jessica, and I'm just being thrust into the world of cooking for myself. I've cooked for a few years with my grandmother, but now that I have my own place, it's a mandatory act! Being from southern Louisiana, I grew up with a very Cajun-oriented way of looking at cooking. My family is definitely the "real deal" when it comes to Cajun cooking! Some of my favorite things to cook are the things my grandmother taught me how to make--gumbo, dirty rice, etc. However, my favorite thing to cook by far is stir fry! It is just so versatile. My favorite family cooking tradition has to be Christmas. My whole family gets together to make a feast worthy of my whole neighborhood! So far, the hardest thing I've cooked and my greatest accomplishment has been gumbo, but only because the initial step is to make a roux. Making a roux from scratch isn't the easiest thing, I promise! The worst thing I've done so far is burn a roast. It had been cooking for four hours already, with me adding water at intervals. At one point, I forgot I was even cooking it! That's when the tragedy occurred. At least I saved some of it!