“It didn’t seem to matter to Turtle, she was happy where she was.... She watched the dark highway and entertained me with her vegetable-soup song, except that now there were people mixed in with the beans and potatoes: Dwayne Ray, Mattie, Esperanza, Lou Ann and all the rest. And me. I was the main ingredient.”

"It didn't seem to matter to Turtle, she was happy where she was.... She watched the dark highway and entertained me with her vegetable-soup song, except that now there were people mixed in with the beans and potatoes: Dwayne Ray, Mattie, Esperanza, Lou Ann and all the rest. And me. I was the main ingredient." - page 246

It seems like Taylor is referring to her life as a recipe, without all the people, the up's and down's, it wouldn't be satisfying in the end. Although Taylor's journey wasn't always perfect and happy, she always had Turtle. Turtle always seemed to be happy no matter what was going on, and it kind of seems like that taught Taylor a lot. No matter what stay strong and keep her head up, to keep herself in a happy place.