EVERY STORY MATTERS
"The sole mission behind this endeavor is to guide the way, to help others to open their hearts and learn to share life, love and food with all those around them. It's all about inspiration, sharing and connection. Putting this simple message into practice while learning to operate from a place of love will transform your life in unimaginable ways." - Elayne
Elayne Prechtel
This entire mission emerged from a single idea of creating a tangible legacy for my kids in the best way I know how - from my heart and from my kitchen. Had I ever written a book before? Never... What I did have was sheer determination, will and a deep seeded desire to create something meaningful. Every word, every photo, recipe and every story was built with my hands, 100% from scratch. I merged my love of photography and country upbringing with my simple, down-to-earth cooking style by sharing family favorite recipes, heart-touching memories and invaluable life lessons in this 426 page Family Cookbook. I share not just the beautiful but also the messy side of life. The premise of the project is that the best (and worst) parts of life are meant to be shared. It's what unites and bonds us all. This entire mission beyond the cookbook is about the "practice" of sharing and helping others from a place that doesn't cost a penny - from a place of love.
This journey down this path of intentional living began after a devastating loss in our family. It brought life into crystal clear focus and made our family realize that you get one chance and one chance only to make this one life count. My hope in sharing is that it won't take something as tragic as a loss to get people to see the beauty of their life and the gifts that are all around them each and every day. It takes mindfulness, intention, a lot of practice, and something that we all have, love in our hearts.
We invite you to join us as we set out on an adventure of sharing to inspire others in learning, loving and growing. Just like the picture of the cookbook cover of the offering hands, this whole mission is all about learning to live open-handed and hearted without any agenda or expectation in return. It's about empowering you to operate from a space of love and share life, love and food in your own life in order to gain that sense of connection and community we all long for.
Will it be picture perfect? Absolutely not. Let's take away the fear factor of stumbling and tripping over ourselves. I stumbled hard when writing, creating, building, photographing this cookbook, even lost the contents of the entire book not once, not twice but three times. Talk about fall on your face. It's all about learning to stand back up that much taller, that much stronger in order to get back at it and conquer your dreams. Now that's inspiring and we hope it motivates you to join in love and solidarity with us on this journey.
If you are looking to be inspired, want more for your life and what you leave behind, you've come to the right place. We will give you the tools you need to imagine, dream, believe and achieve the things that speak uniquely to you. The key to remember is that all things worth having in life, like love, kindness, authenticity and generosity, are worth sharing and will leave heart prints on every life you touch.
Much Love,
-Elayne