When did you first become interested in cooking?   
My mom's an amazing cook, and as I've gotten older, I've been lucky to make friends with some amazing home chefs. I love having brunches and dinner parties with my friends and do so quite often. So here and there I've picked up some great tips and tricks along the way.

What makes you an expert?   
So, I'm a pretty ok home cook. The thing is, when my sweetie is out of town, and my friends are busy for dinner, I'm terrible at making dinner just for myself. I end up just eating 12 pieces of toast and a banana for dinner. Not exactly the well-balanced meal a growing young gal needs. So I branched out... and decided to include the incredible, edible egg. After quite a lot of practice, I've mastered the poached egg. So now, when I'm home alone, I still eat my toast (this time only 1-2 pieces) and banana, but I add to the mix two perfectly poached eggs, some steamed spinach (for all those great leafy green vitamins) and a nice little cream sauce just to make it decadent. Sit me down with an episode of Ugly Betty on abc.com and call me a happy bachelorette for the evening.


What advice would you give someone who's interested in cooking?
Pick something that takes you 30 minutes or less. There's a bunch of recipes out there on the net (epicurious.com is a fave), but if you pick something that's too complex or takes forever, if you're like me, you'll get discouraged or bored with cooking if you're doing it all alone. Also, pick something you know you'll love and something that is good for you. I'm a vegetarian and sometimes have a hard time getting lots of protein. Thus, a few eggs a week for dinner is a perfect way for me to eat something I love and that doesn't make me feel like I'm abusing my body with gross food.