The Cousinhood Cookbook is a love story with two beginnings.
The first occurred after the death of Anne’s mother. Anne’s and Gail’s fathers were identical twins but Anne and Gail were almost strangers since their mothers disliked each other. Anne asked Gail if they could be friends now and Gail answered “yes.”
The second occurred later, after only child Anne felt that Gail and Gail’s brother Ken were more like siblings than cousins. Gail had asked Anne for copies of her recipes and Anne responded “of course.” Anne started assembling them but it took more time than she anticipated to turn a notebook of penciled handwritten recipes into a collection usable by someone else.
Anne believes that her efforts and those of her husband Don who transformed the manuscript into a book were well worth the time. In her own words, “I try to avoid cliches but the Cousinhood Cookbook was a labor of love.”