"Like me, Danielle Kartes realizes that food is the great connector--a conduit to bring people together around the table and create new memories."--Rachael Ray, for Rustic Joyful Food: My Heart's Table

As seen on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Rachael Ray Show, and Hallmark Home & Family

What makes a meal special? Certainly not the best cutlery, the most expensive ingredients, or the latest trends in cooking. It's about the people who made them for you and how they loved you.

Danielle Kartes grew up poor, though it never felt that way to her. She was privy to much as a child, but it wasn't until having her own children that she fully understood the effort made by her mother to their family comfortable during times of financial hardship. There was always food on their table and it was always delicious. Whether it was veggies from the family garden or "hamburger soup," Danielle learned from her mother not just to cook but to feed people.

There is a food Renaissance beginning. People are taking greater care in cooking again, figuring out how to eat better and how to get back to those days of slow-cooked, homegrown food while balancing a career and family. Rustic Joyful Food is about life and Generations is about the past that will always touch our present and continue to shape our future.

The recipes in this book are simple and delicious, they are food for the heart. They are meant to remind you how special family time is and how important memories made around food truly are. Inside you'll find:

• Grandma Gloria's Oven-Fried Chicken Legs
• Mom's Swiss Steak
• Old-Scool Cracker Crumb Nuggets and Sauces
• Company Chicken (for when you have company!)
• Real Baked Potato Soup (cheesy potato goodness!)
• Curried Carrot Soup (sometimes, you need to step out!)
• Aunty Pat's Dilly Potatoes (like nostalgia and home)
• Off-the-Cob Street Corn with Chipotle and Feta (a new classic)
• Italian Sodas
• Egg Coffee
• Grandma Hawkins's Applesauce Bundt Cake
• Honey Butter Biscuit Strawberry Shortcake
• Mug Cakes, a.k.a. The Emotional Support Treat
• Sticky Toffee Pudding

This cookbook, full of comfort food, is not meant to be taken word for word. Just like life, they are meant to be messy and beautifully your own. It is meant to feed your soul and nourish your heart. Break the binding, scribble in your own changes, and may this cookbook bring life and love to your home for generations to come.

This soulful cookbook is perfect for fans of Once Upon A Chef, Half-Baked Harvest, Smitten Kitchen, Melissa Clark, Allison Roman, Valerie Bertinelli, the Barefoot Contessa and other simple, delicious cookbooks for the everyday cook.