A: Rolled-out sugar cookies at age 8 for the Lee County Fair.

Q: How did you learn how to cook?

A: My patient mother taught me.

Q: What's the strangest thing you've ever made?

A: I tried to cook a bear roast 23 years ago whenever we lived in Murfreesboro [Tenn.] It turned out so tough that our dog couldn't eat it and we had to bury it in the backyard!!!

Q: Any kitchen disasters?

A: Twenty-five years ago, I was baking a cake for pay for a coworker's celebration and used aluminum foil to line the pans, because I did not have any waxed paper. The inside of the cake was very gummy even though it looked fine on the outside. I felt so ignorant for making such a decision.

Q: What's the most ambitious dish you've ever made?

A: Making a wedding cake for a Chinese couple in Raleigh who wanted real roses, fresh strawberries and a water fountain. Fortunately, it turned out well and the couple was quite pleased.

Q: What's your funniest kitchen story?

A: My mother-in-law used to live with us and one time she mistakenly put salt rather than sugar in the iced tea.