If I'm not cooking dinner, I feel disoriented. Even when I went to see my family, I cooked dinner for everyone all but one night. I love various ethnic dishes, and when I'm feeling really energetic will make some of my favorite vegetarian Indian meals -- one of my faves uses cauliflower ground up fine with garlic and onion, and sauteed, and with spices.

I discovered a really easy yummy roast chicken recipe last year and cook that almost every week. I turn it every 15 minutes for about an hour and a half. I like making kung pow chicken. and I have a good recipe for a Moroccan chicken with cous-cous.

Basically, I love food.

When my kids were growing up I baked a lot -- even used to make cream puffs. Now my kids like to cook. Last summer they had a guacamole making contest and an omelet making contest. One son makes browneis, another makes chocolate chip cookies. We have a traditional family birthday cake recipe form my grandmother that my daughter now knows how to make (yellow cake with bittersweet chocolate filling and chocolate frosting).

In summer, I make an easy chicken fajita dish,and an easy tuna-spinach-tomato spaghetti sauce.

My favorite, easy, quick thing to do these days with vegetables is to broil them -- most often I do this with beets, or sweet potatoes or asparagus -- I do it in the toaster over -- slice the potatoes really thin, sprinkle olive oil and salt, and broil for a few minutes. You can also put them on salad when cold. Same with the beets. If I have the beet greens, I cook them separately.

I also love broccoli rabe (rapini), and kale and spinach, sauteed in olive oil with garlic, and then steamed.