If you’ve ever wondered how to cook good food that is standard fare for the Midwest, you need to check with my Mother-in-Law, Mona Faye. She’s amassed quite a museum of housekeeping guides from the past, and I couldn’t say “no” when she offered me a big stack of well-worn cookbooks, complete with carefully preserved newspaper clippings and hand-written comments. This blog is an homage to all our mothers, our mothers-in-law, our aunts, and our grandmas who have made good food — food that may not have been fancy but that was consistently healthy and comforting. These women have succeeded despite the “advice” the from so-called experts. If it hadn’t been for Mom, we wouldn’t have made it.

If you giggle at ephemera from the past, if you want to try a few (new) old recipes, if at heart you’re a fan of domestic history, come and enjoy some coffee with Mona Faye.

And how about a good ol’ slice of pie to go with that?