If she wasn't getting up early to bring you the news as morning anchor on WSLS 10, Dawn would be spending her evenings cooking up cuisine in a restaurant. But since she's not a chef and doesn't play one on TV, this is the closest she can get for now... blogging about it.

When I was a kid I was always frustrated that my loving, yet protective parents would not let me venture outside after school if they were not home from work. What was a kid to do? I decided to pick up a cookbook. My parents always had a deep freezer stocked with anything you could want and a fridge full of fresh vegetables.

I began experimenting. I mean what was the worst I could do, set the strove on fire? All jokes aside, that nearly happened relatively recently.... more on that later!

It was quite fun, especially since what I made actually ended up tasting good. A few things I remember enjoying most way back when was barbeque pork chops, batter fried chicken and my own spaghetti sauce. In an effort to make the experience of teaching myself to cook even more interesting, I pretended to be Julia Child (remember this is before the creation of the Food Network and all it's stars) accent and all. I would put all of my ingredients out on the table, in individual bowls and all, and recite each step of the recipe aloud.

I learned to cook and more importantly to my parents, they came home form a long day at work to sometimes gourmet meals!!! My mother enjoyed it so much she became my personal shopper of sorts. She would venture out to the grocery to store to search for often hard to find ingredients I needed for my next dish.

Those days long behind me... I am still experimenting. Only now, my husband and daughter are my guinea pigs. By the way, I mentioned nearly catching the stove on fire... I was doing a practice run on a meal I was hoping to make for my husband (then, boyfriend) and mistakenly put wax paper as opposed to parchment paper in the oven. He called me in the midst of the fire alarm going off and the dog I was sitting for, barking up a storm as my apartment filled with smoke. Thankfully he gave my cooking another chance.

Here I'll share some of my favorite recipe finds or any other bites relating to food and cooking I can think of. Feel free to swap stories or some of your best recipes. I'll be happy to dish. Bon appetite!!!