40 YEARS OF TRIAL & ERROR

About the Book

Darlene's cookbook "40 Years of Trial & Error" is full of tasty, simple and easy to follow recipes. It includes many helpful hints & in a pinch substitutions compiled from years of cooking, experimentation, and testing recipes. The memoirs at each food section are warm and heart filling. Darlene trys to show that by being in the kitchen preparing food is a wonderful way to bring your family and friends together and create everlasting memories.

About the Author

Born October, 1959 in Winnemucca, Nevada, Darlene immmediately faced many adversities life would bring. The youngest of three children and the only daughter, she would quickly mature into a young woman before her teens. Her family was extremely poor but her mother Barbara (a Shoshone Indian) always found a way to have food on the table. Barbara, a good cook in her rights, was limited to her entree selection due to a controlling husband. Most days in the house was the same meal on Monday as it was the previous Monday, as well as Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. Despite Barbara's style of cooking which was normally "over well done", Darlene admired her mother's good intentions and nurturing heart working in the kitchen. The love and passion she learned from her mother resonates in her cooking to this day. At the age of nine, Darlene joined a 4-H cooking class. The experience caught her attention and opened her eyes to different foods and styles of preperation. Meanwhile, her parents divorced, leaving her mom to raise two sons and a daughter on her own. Darlene immediately took over more roles in the home to include additional cooking responsibilities. Young by age, mature in life, at the age of sixteen, Darlene now had two sons, Carl and Alan. Emancipated from her parents, she was left on her own to raise her children. A single mother, dirt poor, forced out of school with very little support, Darlene overcame all obstacles. She quickly learned how to prepare hot dogs and hamburgers 101 different ways. The next several decades brought many trials and tribulations for Darlene. Despite being a successful business woman she faced three critical car accidents, the lose of her beloved mother, brother, father, grandparents and her sons growing up and moving away. She always managed to prepare the most amazing dishes. Some involved two days of leftovers created into a completely new work of art, some from scratch, and others taking days of preperation and thought. Darlene recognizes the bond cooking can bring to a family. She believes it's not about the entree being served, but, more about the love put into making it. Darlene's son Carl will tell you some of his fondest memories as a child were sitting in the kitchen watching his mother prepare dinner. Darlene pours love and warmth into every meal. Her sons have both moved on and are raising families of their own. They both do most of the cooking in their homes. Darlene's writings are not a book full of recipes. It's the story of her life and 40 years of trial and error. She will tell you not to follow any recipes exactly, rather do your own thing while creating memories with all the loved ones around you!