I have 3 beautiful grandchildren and am happily partnered with the sweetest guy in the world. When attitudes change we'll be married. Cooking for people who really enjoy eating is a passion of mine and I'm not sure I have much trust in those who don't much like onions or garlic! My veins flow with garlic and not a drop of blood. The best compliment to my cooking abilities was "Your cooking reminds me of my Grandmother's." No one knows the secrets of the kitchen like Grandmas do. Since moving to the Central California coast I have discovered that there is nothing like Red Oak for BBQ'ing and smoking everything from meats to cheese. Lord when my time comes please let me die with a belly full of smoked pork and tri tip. I enjoy doing volunteer work for my local ASO and helping out with their annual Walk for Life BBQ for close to 400 walkers and supporters, taking off for a day trip or camping up in Big Sur, growing my own fresh vegetables to use as I am preparing a meal. Just about anything but fish and I'm always looking for something new to try. I look at a recipe as a blank canvas. Tweak it to your own taste. You won't offend me if you change a recipe I've given you. Imagination is where good and new foods come from. The family recipe for old fashioned bread stuffing. A recipe for mayonnaise which the Wesson Oil Company put out in the 1920's complete with the special mayo making jar with a plunger for slowly hand pumping the oil into the rest of the ingredients. Anything that turns out so that people say this really delicious. My rule of thumb is that the following factors should always be in the order of, 1-Flavor, 2-Comfort factor, 3-Texture, 4-Health. Those don't happen too often but when they do they are MAJOR. Once I fixed chicken breasts with Chinese 5 Spice, I followed the directions accordingly. They came out tasting like a licorice bomb had exploded in the baking dish. My wife, 2 kids and I took one bite...the dogs and cats had a great meal that night. The worse mess I've had to clean up was when I forgot to put several pokes into a yam before cooking it in the microwave. You know all those little holes in the top of the inside of your microwave? That aint gonna happen again!