Dolly Parton details remarkable childhood with 11 siblings in two-room cabin

Dolly Parton may be one of the world’s biggest and most beloved superstars, but she’s still a country girl at heart, as evidenced by her new venture with her sister.

The 78-year-old musician and her younger sister Rachel Parton George, 65, recently collaborated on a new cookbook together titled Good Lookin’ Cookin’, sharing some of their favorite recipes from growing up in Tennessee.

Dolly is the fourth of 12 children born into the Parton family to parents Avie Lee Caroline and Robert Lee Parton Sr., while Rachel is the youngest. The large family lived in a small two-room cabin in Locust Ridge, Tennessee with a farm of their own.

While their means were meager, as Dolly has stated often, the deep love and sense of commitment and community between the family-of-14 meant they were happy and still lived life to the fullest.

In a conversation with EatingWell, Dolly and Rachel shared some insight into their childhood years and how it influenced many of the recipes in their new book. Several of those come from childhood favorites, most notably their mom’s Skillet Cornbread, which Rachel learned to make when she was just five years old.

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“It’s one of my favorite dishes, period,” the “I Will Always Love You” singer shared. “If I’m making potato soup — Mama called ’em soup taters — or if I’m making a big old pot of great northern white beans or pinto beans, you have got to have a skillet of cornbread with that, no doubt about it.”

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They also talk about corn being a big part of the family, with the kids pitching in to help their dad on his corn farm. In fact, they even revealed that their father paid the doctor who delivered Dolly with a bag of cornmeal!

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“We lived on a farm and grew our own corn,” she added. “We had fresh corn on the cob (roasting ears, as they call ’em), cream-style corn that we would scrape off the cob, and we also shucked that corn when it dried in the wintertime, and Daddy would take it down to the gristmill to grind into cornmeal.”

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Dolly also spoke about food being an important part of their large family dynamic, which also sometimes included extended relatives. “I think most families, big families certainly, kind of everything centers around the kitchen and food. We grew up with all of our grandmas and our aunts and our mom, everybody cooking such great country food.”

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Rachel also explained why for the two of them, who often spend time together in Nashville, creating a cookbook together made complete sense. “We knew we would have a great time, and that we’d get a chance to revisit family recipes and stories.”

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Dolly added: “We learned how much we truly do love each other and each other’s company, and we’re just happy to have something great we made together that we get to share. We hope people enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it.”