Born and raised on the west side of Chicago. Moved to Harvard, Illinois in 1989. I worked for many years as a para-educator. I am now retired. I love to make comfort foods such as stews, soups, breads, etc. My favorite time to cook is when all the kids come over with all the grandkids (we have five) Making Christmas cut out cookies with my three-year old granddaughter. What great fun - I didn't even mind cleaning up the kitchen when done :-) When I was first married, my husband asked me to make meatloaf with hardcooked eggs in the center. I had never heard of this and wasn't too sure what to do - so, I put two whole raw eggs into the center of the meatloaf and baked it. Well, when we cut into the loaf there was a crunch - I have yet to live this down and that was 40 years ago.