I've been cooking since I could reach the stove! After living in Okinawa, Japan I've had my eyes opened to all kinds of new things. Also discovered that I have Celiac disease - which means I can't eat anything that has wheat gluten. This knowledge was a horrible reality at first - no pizza, hamburgers, fried chicken and worst of all, no more chicken fried steak! I've learned to work around my wheat gluten problems. There are lots of good substitutes out there. I still crave buttermilk biscuits and and sausage gravy though! However, there is life after wheat gluten! I'm always experimenting with recipes and have come up with some pretty good gluten free creations from non gluten free recipes.