I grew up in a large family with 3 brothers and 5 sisters!  My father was in the Navy and spent most of those years on the ship.  My mother had her hands full during those times.  I was the second youngest out of the 9 children.  Our lives were forever full of laughter, tears, scrapes and most importantly, imagination!  I have always loved to read and write in journals, my own personal diary of sorts.  We were all taught by either my mom or dad on how to cook or be the second set of hands mom needed.

As I became an adult and a mother myself, I had some knowledge of how to cook a decent meal!  I started a cookbook collection, and I would go from beginning to end and read the recipes and then dog ear that pages of what I intended to try.  Once I made each recipe, I, of course, made my own notes in it or would put a huge X through it, which of course meant Nope!  Won’t make that again!

I absolutely love to cook and bake and proudly serve my family.  I feel a sense of accomplishment when serving my guests.  I am not a “formal” cook, but at the same time, I love that we sit around the dinner table, join hands and say grace and then, dig in!

I have one amazing son and his beautiful wife.  I have also been blessed with 3 awesome grandchildren. My grandsons are identical twins at age 10 and a beautiful granddaughter who turned 14 this year!  The amazing thing is they still love coming to Grandma Kathy’s and spending nights.  I encourage them to not be afraid to help make the meal.

I am blessed to have my siblings, my son Matt and his family and my friends as well for they all encourage me and give me the inspiration to try new recipes, concoct my own versions.  They are my biggest fans as well as my honest critics.

I hope you find joy in my first cookbook as well as coming to know me through my recipes.  And with that in mind, I believe that The Gathering Table is perfect for my title, come let’s gather together over home cooked meals.