Cooking for a crowd this Thanksgiving? Nora Baker, who with husband Raymond had all 16 of these kids, plus a couple more later, did it three times a day. Mrs. Baker, who once won a Homemaker of the Year Award that netted her $100 and a tiara, offered these tips: 1. Buy in bulk; the Bakers, for example, purchased potatoes in 100-pound bags. 2. Don’t sweat the small stuff, like Johnny (the infant in this photo) pounding nails into the wall. 3. Delegate, delegate, delegate.
Raymond Baker’s annual pay as a machinist: $5,000.
Members of the Baker family who shared a birthday: 3.
Loaves of bread the family consumed daily: 6.
Weight, in pounds, of the smallest turkey that could feed a family of 20: 15.
Average number of places set at Thanksgiving dinner tables in 2002, according to one survey: 14.
Percentage of U.S. households with six or more people in 1900: 50. In 1998: 10.
Approximate number of years Nora Baker spent pregnant: 13 1/2.
