My parents are of French-Canadian descent, born and raised in New Hampshire. I'm not trying to say my grandparents were bad cooks .... oh, yes, I am. I am not saying all New Hampshire-ites are. My father bought my mother a cookbook for a wedding present, then the other military wives taught her their cuisines, plus we lived in Germany and France. As far as I know the only dish my parents grew up with was New England boiled dinner, and the only spices they had coming up were salt and pepper, heavy on the former, light on the latter. In other words I'm an ethnic nobody in my genes, an ethnic everybody by nature. I have a huge cabinet of spices, a big herb garden, and a cabinet full of sauces/vinegars, none of which have anything to do with my ethnic background, more to do with the friends I've made over the years, friends Mom made, and travels.