I have worked in restaurants (including running my own) my whole life. I LOVE to cook. My husband and I own our own construction company which keeps us very busy. But we always sit down to dinner with our three boys. Eating together we think is very important. My dream is to open up my own Bed and Breakfast when I decide to semi retire. :-) My husband is a picky eater, so I'm always excited when I can "sneak" an unfamiliar food on him and he enjoys it! I love to cook down-home family favorites, as well as experimenting with new recipes and creating my own. I LOVE pasta and I'm always looking for new ways to serve it. I just recently developed a love of Thai food as well, and am learning to cook it at home! I have always cherished cooking with my mother and grandmother. Both are wonderful cooks who have taught me a lot. The kitchen has always been the heart of our home. Because the time in the kitchen with my grandmother and mother mean so much to me, I'm teaching my own children how to cook. I've discovered that my kids will try new things if they helped to make it! We all like to sit down together and thumb through my cookbook collection picking out recipes to try. We also enjoy watching the food network as a family. As funny as it may sound, I have never been able to cook rice well. I have been given numerous ways of preparing it, but could never seem to get the hang of it. I finally broke down and bought myself an electric rice cooker. WOW! It seems that I couldn't screw up rice now if I tried....now if I had only known about that wonderful invention sooner!!!!!! My first attempt at making homemade bread was terrible. I had made "quick" breads hundreds of times but never made anything with yeast. I was terrified! And rightfully so! Even though I never did figure out what I did wrong, my bread was the hardest thing known to man. Thankfully I've improved greatly over the years. ;-)