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It's a combination of things. My mom also stopped cooking when I was young, and it becamse my responsibilty to cook for the family. My favorite meal to cook was Sunday brunch. I grew up in Southern California, and there a ton of Mexican influence. Then I was lucky enough to marry a man who had grown up in New Hampshire, but had then lived in New Mexico for several years. After we moved to New Jersey, I had to start cooking just to have Mexican/New Mexican food. From there, I started in on Thai and Indian. Now almost everything I cook is some sort of fusion food. I'm hoping to go to culinary school eventually. And learn how to bake.

Last night, Spaghetti with Bacon and Peas. Was supposed to be Pancetta, but the grocery was out and I didn't feel like driving all over town to get some. Still, it was pretty darn good. Nothing on the side, it was plenty on it's own, what with all the goat cheese. Tonight will be Lemon-Herb roasted chicken, carrots with brown sugar-orange butter, and mashed broccoli. The chicken is marinating all day in a mixture of EVOO, various herbs (thyme, tarragon, chives, rosemary) and lemon. Should be good. But, I've never made any of these dishes before, so wish me luck.

I will never confuse the sugar and salt canisters while making pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. I didn't do that, but my mom did, and no one has ever let her forget it. What I did do is make the mistake of not learning what all the parts to my rice cooker were before trying to use it for the first time. It didn't seem to be working, and of course it turned out that I'd put the water in the wrong place. My husband points to the middle and says the water should go in there...I assumed he meant under that metal thingy - surely it must unscrew... It does not. And it took a few months before I had fingerprints again on my thumb and first finger. Ouch! I will probably make coffee without the pot in place a few more times in my life. Hopefully I'll have the sense not to try to catch falling knives...

The Americana Diner in East Windsor is fabulous. It's all been redone, and they have a martini lounge in the back room, which is just cool. Plus, the food is pretty good. It's always packed though, especially on the weekends.

Hey all, I'm new here, but this seems like the perfect topic to jump in on. My faves: Julia ('cause, y'know...) Tyler Florence Nigella Alton (I didn't know he was a jerk, but I do like his show...it's a bit disappointing to hear that he's not such a nice guy ) Despise: Emeril Bobby Flay (what a creep!) Sarah Moulton (my god! Is that woman even alive? She's so dull!) Barefoot Contessa Paula Deen (someone *please* shut her up!) Somewhere in between: Rachel Ray (she reminds me of my husband's cousin, so it's funny to watch her sometimes) Jamie Oliver (mostly for laughs, his food always looks awful) Mario (I want to like him, I just can't seem to get excited about his cooking) I don't really know anything about Anthony Bourdain. I'll have to check him out.