This cookbook was originally written as a Christmas gift for my daughter, Lindsey. I worked morning, noon, and night to gather a collection of recipes from my own kitchen as well as recipes from family and friends. These recipes were Lindsey's favorites, those she would request time after time. The more people I talked to about their recipes, the more people would come to me because they heard I was looking for Lindsey's favorites. What started out to be just a little booklet was turning into a full-fledged cooking encyclopedia

I gave Lindsey the small, unedited version for...