Miss Kay is the revered matriarch of the family. What she says goes. She was 16 when she married Phil and since then she’s been keeping him and the boys from spending too much time in the woods, bringing them back to civilization each night with a home-cooked meal. Miss Kay believes her cooking talents are a gift that she must share, and often ends up feeding all of the family and most of the neighborhood. Her most famous dishes are banana pudding, fried deer steak, crawfish pie and sticky frog legs.

Miss Kay’s favorite family member is Jesse, her Jack Russell terrier. But here’s the secret: every time the family dog dies Miss Kay quickly gets a new puppy that looks just like the one that passed and even gives it the same name. As Miss Kay puts it, “this way, you never have to grieve.”