Welcome to my blog!

I'm Candace, the girl behind (or in front of?) The Girl Can Cook!
First, a little about me...and, actually, I'm not much of a girl anymore but you're only as old as you feel, right? I live in Tulsa, Oklahoma smack dab in the middle of the country (Yes, we have computers out here in the Wild West even though, it's not very wild and not even very far west!). I am a divorced single mom and have two terrific daughters; one lives with me, the other is following her dreams in NYC.
Like many of us, I began cooking as a means of survival but I always enjoyed exploring food magazines and cookbooks long before it was a celebrity thing. I watched Julia Child on PBS and marvelled at all of the things she could do with a chicken and then, of course, loved Dan Ackroyd's impression of her on SNL. I even watched Graham Kerr, The Galloping Gourmet, before he found religion and stopped getting drunk on his shows.
I come from a long line of talented home cooks (my mother being the best!) and food was always just a part of my life. In my family, you show people how much they are loved by the food you prepare for them.
But I digress...let's just say that I have good cooking "genes". I am primarily self taught but have taken lots of classes (Culinary Institute type) and worked with many other chefs. Last fall, I won a recipe contest that I entered as a lark, sponsored by Cooking Light magazine (the recipe will be posted shortly) and I have created a "Guy Friendly Dinner Party Menu" that will be featured in one of the fall/winter issues of Men's Fitness. I teach cooking classes here in Tulsa at Metro Builders Supply in its Viking Gallery (although they have every series of appliances you can imagine so I'm going to be working my way around the store). And, I love to teach! It's one of my favorite things to do!! My classes are called "Cooking without a Parachute" where I allow people to experiment with different foods, flavors, and ingredients so that they can cook fearlessly.
I look forward to sharing Daily Tips, recipes, "secrets", and my life with you. Oh yeah, I love answering questions and researching food topics so let's make this a forum for discussion and maybe we'll all learn something.
Join me on my journey through food!