Born and raised in Seattle, college and post-college in New York City, now back to Seattle because it smells nicer. Mostly things that take a long time, like soups and chili and stew. Grilling in the summer, obviously, as dictated by my Y chromosome. We don't have any. We always have lefse at Christmas (it's Norwegian sugary potato bread) but I think my Aunt buys it. My mom's mac and cheese is pretty good, but is it tradition if you started having it in the 1990s? That very mac and cheese has been the cause for much celebration. When I was just learning to cook, I was living on the Lower East Side in this apartment with no living room, just hallways, two TINY bedrooms, and an even tinier kitchen. Somehow I got the idea that, on a 90-degree August day, I should make a spicy pasta sauce that needs to slow-simmer for two hours. I think I lost as much weight from sweating while eating the hot pasta and spicy sauce I got from the food itself.