Home grown gal, born at home in Germany with the help of a midwife. My parents immigrated from Germany when I was 2 1/2, I am the oldest of 3 other siblings, all boys! I was raised in a very rural part of San Jose, California. Dad had the best fruit and vegetables in the valley! Mom was in the garden and kitchen daily, caring for the fruits and veggies, then preparing our daily meals from scratch, including those awesome German cakes, my favorite part of the book, baking. I learned a lot from my parents, a lot about horticulture, German cuisine infused with American cuisine. While we all grew up together learning the English language, teaching my parents English was very comical to say the least. Dad always confused "kitchen" with "chicken", that Greek accent got in the way many times. We still repeat things he said and laugh out loud. This book is a compilation of my families recipes, my favorite recipes and some that have been given to me by my friends with my very own special twist on things!