Follow This Winning Cook for Recipes with a Bang!

Up to 5O million cooks visit Allrecipes.com every month, and each has a story. This single dad? He's got a big heart — and a really big family: 17 siblings! Meet Allrecipes home cook and Dinner Spinner TV winner Seth Garoo Baxter.

• Also known as: Seth Baxter, 46, Thousand Oaks, California
• Allrecipes community member since: December 2015
• Day job: Event planner
• Who I cook for: Myself, my grown son when he's home, plus my roommates and people who attend my events
• Pet: A dog named Bandit
• Fascinating facts about me: I'm adopted, one of 18 children (three biological, six adopted, and nine foster kids) that my parents raised in New York. I'm good at braiding, cutting, and styling hair. (My mom cannot do hair to save her life, so I got a lot of practice.) I ran a nightclub for eight years. I recently competed on the Allrecipes TV show, Dinner Spinner Presented by Allrecipes.
• Cooks I admire most: My brother Danny and my sister Sharon — it's a tie between those two — and Guy Fieri. I have such a man crush on Guy Fieri. If I ever met him, I would so fan out, it would be embarrassing.
• On being a single dad: Taking care of my son, Keanu, has been one of my biggest pleasures. He's grown now, but after my ex-wife and I separated when he was 18 months old, I truly had to learn how to balance work and life to raise him. My dad and my buddy Chris really helped me, babysitting at a moment's notice. I have a great deal of respect for single moms.
• In my pantry, you'll always find: Spices. I feel like something's wrong if I don't have at least 12 different spices. I can't live without garlic powder. And I really love my Sazón, a spice mix my mom always used in Puerto Rican dishes.
• How I got hooked on Allrecipes: I have buddies over for dinner parties or to watch UFC fights on TV sometimes. A lot of people think bachelors just cook Sloppy Joes and burgers, but we go way beyond. A friend told me about the site, and I started going there to look for recipes for our get-togethers — there's so much variety!
• My extended "family" includes: Thousands of LA-area kids in the YMCA Youth & Government program I volunteer with. I'm a godfather to so many of them. Working with these young people has been one of the most rewarding things in my life. I share that with my folks, I guess.
• Kitchen tool I can't live without: My wooden spoon. My YMCA kids got me the one I have now to replace one I lost in a fire at my home. My parents always cooked with a wooden spoon. I just feel like anything is possible if I have it.
• When I'm cooking: I've got a glass of wine and the music's on: Nina Simone, Boz Scaggs, the Mamas and the Papas. It's an eclectic mix.
• For my last meal on Earth, I want: A tuna fish sandwich with chunky onions. Yeah. I know it's not glamorous. But I love tuna fish.

"My winning dish from Allrecipes' TV show [Seth's Gimme Cha Bang] is short for ‘give me a dish with a bang.' It's loaded with good stuff and hot sauce for kick."