I am a wife, mom of 3 and sometimes empty nester, in this bounce back generation. I run my own home daycare and care for 8 little ones, usually 5 a day. My favourite pastime is running, especially 1/2 marathons and long trail races. I am also a running instructor, along with my husband. I also love to read, (love my new Kobo) and I like to cook and sew as well. From a practical point of view, slow cooker recipes are my favourite. Casseroles or dishes that can be prepared ahead and popped in the oven at dinner time work too. I am always on teh look out for healthy options or ways to "healthify" a recipe. On week-ends my husband and I love to try new dishes and cook together. My mother in law has a recipe for meat buns (yeast dough filled with a chopped meat mixture and baked). They are a family favourite and she refused to share the recipe. I figured it out on my own. The first time I made them her husband said; "These are even better than mother's". You could have heard a pin drop when everyone stopped eating and waited to see what she would say! She was gracious and admitted mine were better. Every year I make them for Christmas dinner and my boys "sneak" into the kitchen to snatch a few, usually burning their mouths because they can't wait for them to cool. I have to pretend I don't see them. They are now 19 and 24 and it is tradition for them to sneak away with a handful of buns. My oldest now lives 3000 miles away and I think one of the biggest reasons he comes home at Christmas is for my meat buns. Anytime my family loves a new dish and requests it again I consider a triumph. The most recent was a Cabbage Roll Casserole. So simple and so delicious, they wanted me to make it again right away. When I was 18 and living in my first apartment I made a Black Forest Cake for my mom's birthday. I wasn't used to the oven and burned it. In a panic and in a hurry, I made another. This time it turned out and I filled and frosted it before it had time to properly cool. With just moments to go before I had to leave for her party, I jumped in the shower and when I came out, the heat from the cake and the apartment (it was a VERY hot day) had caused the frosting to melt and all the layers slid apart and skidded across the kitchen floor. I cried like a baby. We were lucky to see an open bakery on the way to the party and stopped to buy a cake.