I am a student, a coworker, a girlfriend, a daughter, and a sister. I have finally found my balance. I can work, go to school, and cook tasty, healthy meals for Gary and myself. Everything! I love trying new things. While cooking isn't new to me, I am still a recipe creating, menu planning, gourmet cooking newb. We don't really have a cooking tradition. When I eat with my family, we just take turns cooking. Gary would say that the cooking tradition is that I cook for him every night. I impressed the future in-laws! It was the first Christmas with an ex-boyfriend. His father is diabetic, and I wanted to make a diabetic cheesecake. I had the recipe, and I was so excited. It called for artificial sweeter that does not contain aspartame. Well, apparently I missed the "no aspartame" part. It was dessert time, and I brought the cheesecake from the fridge. His dad tried it. Mid chew, he stops, spits it out and grabs a drink. It was disgusting! You'd think I would try it first to make sure it came out okay. It did make for a good laugh. :)