I'm Shannon Smith, and I live a life of passion!  Passion for cooking, great food, jewelry, gardening, sewing, travel, teaching, and good friends.  I've lived in Oklahoma my entire life.  Since I was a little girl, I have loved working with my hands, especially creating things.  I started sewing when I was in the fifth grade.  I would sit at my mother's Singer sewing machine and sew rows of stitches on whatever fabrics she would give me.   In the 9th grade I was privileged to have a fantastic home economics teacher. After four years of home economics in high school, I went on to college to earn a bachelor's degree in home economics, and then to graduate school to study clothing design.  I started a custom sewing business, which kept me busy for 14 years.  During that time, I took various cooking classes, and eventually put the sewing machine on the shelf.  I began teaching cooking, and it is the most satisfying hobby I've ever had.   I've been teaching cooking for ten years now, and I have fed hundreds of people during that time.  I've taken numerous culinary courses, and read cookbooks like they were romance novels. I also started using my bead collection to create jewelry, and eventually learned silversmithing. I've started my own website to share my recipes, jewelry, sewing projects, travel, and occasional failures at them all.  Please give me your comments, ideas, or questions.