I love to collect recipes & cookbooks. My collection is huge; I have a thing for church, community and school cookbooks. My nest is empty now, so I don't cook much anymore. But still love my recipes. I love to bake. Every year I like to make the desserts for the holidays. When family comes to visit I love to pull out the slow cooker. I love to make Gumbo, Red Beans & Rice with Sausage, Sweet Potato Pie: most things southern. An evening breakfast of Eggs, Sausage Gravy & Biscuts is always enjoyed by all. My extended family gathers every year for pre-Thanksgiving and pre-Christmas dinner. We have so much fun and get very loud, some of the in-laws just don't understand us. Our menu is non-traditional but very southern; Pastalaya, Gumbo, Pecan Pie, Sweet Potato Pie. Then each family does the traditional thing on the holiday. A lot of the fun is in the planning. If you are blessed to have the Grandma Clay gene, you are the Boss. Make that 6 bosses. My sister and I plus 4 daughters all have an opinion and we can get very loud expressing them. We laugh a lot and that's what family is about. Love, Fun and Laughter!!! In 2000 my Mom passed away and I moved home to take care of Dad. One of the things he loved more than anything was Sweet Potato Pie. For 8 years I tried recipe after recipe on him. I never got it just right. And wouldn't you know...after Dad passed away in 2008 I found a recipe on the back of a can of Glory brand Sweet Potato Casserole for Sweet Potato Pie. It is the best I've ever eaten, I think Dad would have loved it. Back in the 1960's I made my very frist Angel Food Cake from a box mix for my boyfriend (future husband, future ex-husband). There were 3 seperate packages and I got 2 of them mixed up. The cake came out like the intertube of a tire. My Dad laughed so hard, then hung it over his arm and went around the neighborhood showing everyone my masterpiece. Then he waited on the front steps for my boyfriend to arrive. Needless to say, I didn't divorce him because he didn't like my cooking. 45 years later and he will still comment on the all the good things I cooked. Thank goodness he turned out to be a pretty good cook himself because his now wife does not cook. LOL