I'm a foodie. I love eating food, I love cooking food, I love shopping for food ingredients, I love it all. I'm a part-time housewife (just married in '09), a part-time architect, a full-time food fanatic & I love my new life here in San Francisco. I work from home which allows me plenty of time to play in the kitchen or go shop for ingredients, so I cook a lot. Luckily for me, my husband loves to eat good food as much as I do. We love to travel & that has allowed us to experience & appreciate different cultures & their foods. That's why living in San Francisco is so great for being a foodie because it's like eating around the world all in one city. And although this city is a mecca for great food & countless restaurants, there is also something really nice about being able to cook & eat at home - especially in a city where fresh & exotic ingredients abound! But don't let me fool you, because we're also just two good old Colorado kids who love our down-home country cooking, too! I love to cook everything - pastas, soups, curries, noodles, muffins, meats, vegetables, comfort foods, breakfasts, desserts... everything. I mostly cook by instinct once I dive into a recipe, so I tend to make modifications here and there as I go. I can't help it. It's part of the fun of cooking! I've recently discovered that I love making handmade yeast bread. I love the smell of bread baking. The lengthy process is actually pretty fun & it's a great feeling to open the oven, pull out the pizza stone, and have a couple beautiful, crispy loaves of bread or baguettes greeting you. I don't know that I have any traditions. I am trying to cook (and learn) more Vietnamese dishes at home. Getting back to my roots, you can say. I've developed a new appreciation for my culture now that I'm an adult. You really don't understand the importance of that kind of thing as a punk kid growing up in Denver. :) But I can say that I have always loved my mom's & my grandmother's Vietnamese cooking. There is nothing better. I love that my husband has as much interest in world cuisine as I do. We venture into new types of foods often when we eat out, and I want to continue that in our own kitchen. I also love that we both still enjoy good old-fashioned pancake breakfasts on weekends, beers, burgers & fries, & the occasional meatless meals for a change-up. Food should make you happy and make you feel good. We keep it real & down to earth. My two favorite triumphs: my very first layer cake & my very first french bread baguette. For my husband's birthday (2010), I made a chocolate 2 layer cake and homemade frosting (all from scratch) and although it was my very first attempt at all of it (from start to finish) it turned out beautifully & delicious! He loved it and I was so proud! My very first attempt at making yeast bread turned out 2 gorgeous, crispy french bread baguettes that the hubster thought I had bought from the market! I had taught myself how to knead and roll french style from a video I found online that afternoon. He was super impressed. Now, when I make fresh breads to take to get-togethers, they always get great compliments! It's a great feeling. :) While starting a curry broth one time, I accidentally grabbed the cumin instead of the curry powder. While trying to cook 2T of it in olive oil to start the curry oil, it smelled awful! Luckily, this tipped me off to the error, so I dumped it and started over with curry powder. But the smell in the house from that cumin lasted for a long time and it was not very enticing. :P