Imagine 13 children, a tight family income and a large farmhouse kitchen. This is the setting in which we learned to cook.

Our kitchen wasn’t like the kind you see in TV cooking shows. There were no cupboards full of neatly stacked mixing bowls and sparkling glass measuring cups, no drawers containing precise measuring spoons, whisks, spatulas, expensive knives, and cutting boards. No cupboards boasting an endless supply of ingredients, a big set of stainless steel cooking pots, and every kitchen appliance imaginable.

Walk out of that ideal TV studio and into the farmhouse kitchen where we learned to cook and you’d see a sharp contrast. More kids than cutlery, mismatched pots and pans picked up over the years at garage sales, assorted coffee mugs and everyday teaspoons and tablespoons for measuring ingredients, and a big stainless steel mixing bowl that was once left outside after making mud pies then accidentally run over by Dad. We just took a hammer, pounded the dents out and carried on. Never having all the ingredients we needed, we somehow adapted recipes or invented new ones to make a lot out of a little.

In spite of all this – or perhaps because of it – we became accomplished cooks. After years of experimenting, testing, and collecting, my sisters and I sat down and compiled our favorite recipes into a family album of food. Our cookbook is full of real food, prepared with real ingredients, by real people. Friends with diverse cooking backgrounds tested every recipe (lucky them) and made sure every one is a succulent success. And so, after years of fine work and dedication we are proud to share the cookbook we always wished we had. We hope as a side dish, that you enjoy our stories about growing up in a family with 13 children as you try these recipes that will no doubt become some of your own family favorites.