I got my first cookbook when I was about 7, it was a Betty Crocker for kids. I started cooking and never looked back. I also like to decorate cakes and cookies as a hobby. My job is a food safety specialist; I have worked mostly in the regulatory field but some in industry as well. Because of my background I'm well versed in foodborne disease and personal and kitchen hygiene and my family thinks I'm a germaphobe! I love food; I love to cook it, eat it, and critique it. I also am very particular about which restaurants I'll eat at...that's the hazard of my job! Mostly I like to cook for my family or friends. I like to do hors deouvres, desserts, and ethnic foods. I spend a lot of my day in kitchens, but I still like to come home and make dinner for my family. Every Christmas my mom and I have cookie day, where we make huge batches of cookies and treats for everyone. We also usually host Thanksgiving dinner and we try to make some new dishes every year. In our family it's taboo to open a can or warm up frozen foods! Everything is from scratch (mostly), especially for big holiday dinners. We even like to experiment with fancy cocktails and fun drinks for the kids. I made my brother's wedding cake, the first and only one I have done. Boy can I mess up candy! Sticky, lumpy, burned, you name it. Can't do candy to save my life. Another one was the first weekend we moved into our very first house when my husband and I were married. I got up early and decided to make a batch of muffins in my new gas oven to surprise him for breakfast. Unfortunately, during the unpacking process, someone helping us had decided to store some of my potholders in the "drawer" under the oven, which was actually the broiler of the gas stove. I had just slid the muffin pan into the oven, when the kitchen filled with black smoke. I didn't know where it was coming from but all the smoke detectors went off and I quickly opened all the windows. My husband ended up having to call the fire department. Since it was a Sunday and the firemen were bored, they sent 3 engines to our house and dragged my stove onto the front lawn, where it burned a big hole in the grass. I was so mortified I stood in the back yard and cried.