I grew up in PA Dutch country and now live in the suburbs of D.C. I am a homemaker and love to play with my kids who are now 9 and 6. My favorite room in the house is the kitchen. My children used to be explorative eaters... anything went. They are becoming more discriminating ... OK, picky ... so my newest challenge is finding interesting dishes that will meet their tastes. This usually means not admitting to specific ingredients or making them unnoticeable (such as onions). I'm loving the ability to practically pulverize my onions quickly with my food chopper. I love experimenting with different culinary traditions. When I find the time to play in the kitchen uninterrupted, dinner can be quite an adventure at our house. My ultimate month off would be to spend a month travelling around the world as a food critic. - send me back to St-Jean-De-Luz in SW France for Chipirones (a fabulous squid dish)along the bay! My favorite cookbooks are:Extending the Table by Joetta Handrich Schlabach, The Williamsburg Cookbook, The Burger Meisters by Marcel Desaulniers, The Common Grill Cookbook by Chef Craig Common, America's Best Bread Machine Baking Recipes by Donna Washburn & Heather Butt, and most recently, the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Book (I finally got a countertop ice cream freezer!)(Update on 03/17/09- hm! Not many changes!)