It’s 1950, and Ruby Moyer has just graduated high school. She’s got a recipe for her life, and it begins with putting her parents’ broken marriage back together and going to college so she can get a job in Betty Crocker’s test kitchens. But she’s got no money. Worse, she doesn’t know where her mother is. Fueled by dreams of family reconciliation and a glamorous career, she abandons her backwater Pennsylvania Dutch town on the trail of her missing mother, squirreling away money for her college fund as she goes.

Ruby makes friends with sassy, irresponsible Vesper, who joins her on her journey. They make their way to South Philadelphia, where Ruby starts to make a name for herself as a cook in a family restaurant. But when Vesper lands herself in trouble, Ruby must decide whether to save her new friend or to follow her own dreams.

A helping of foods both familiar and new, a dash of gossipy, self-righteous neighbors, and a splash of adventure await Ruby as she cooks up her new life.