My parents gave me a copy of “Barbie’s Easy as Pie Cookbook” for Christmas in 1965. I was 8 years old, and it was my first cookbook. I used it often. I still have it, and treasure it.

This sounds like a fun book! (If you had said you relished balut, I wouldn’t trust anything else you said, but since you are against balut but for collards with hamhocks, you obviously have good sense.)

I love my mother, but she considered cooking a chore that had to be done. Her “recipe” for spaghetti sauce consisted of meatballs (This meant ground beef rolled into balls and fried. Who knew you were supposed to season then or add breadcrumbs? I though meatballs were supposed to be hard.) packaged spaghetti sauce mix from the spice aisle (I’m avoiding using brand names here. Just pick the cheapest) and CANNED TOMATO SOUP! (It was, after all, cheaper than tomato sauce. They’re basically the same thing, right?) Even though garlic grew wild in our yard (!), she never added anything else to the sauce.

So as you might imagine, when we learned that I liked to cook, I was allowed to do it a lot! I got my first cookbook when I was nine. I still cook by book, and always love adding a new one to my collection.

I’m WAY too far away for the show, but the chocolate box would be great. Share? I’d have to share? (Just kidding! Don’t tell my Jenny Craig ocunselor I said that!) I would, of course, share with my husband AND kids.