What do you talk about when you sit down at the dining room table with someone who has lived 104 years?

Everything from breaking enemy codes during World War II to homemade noodles, family recipes, her 1996 Oldsmobile, quilts and embroidered flour sack towels.

Born in White Owl, South Dakota, on January 1, 1922, Lois Widmark served as a U.S. Navy WAVES codebreaker in Washington, D.C., from 1944 to 1946. But her military service is only one chapter of her extraordinary life.

Join me, Lois and her daughter Dianne Bunjer around Lois's dining room table in Ivanhoe, Minnesota, as we talk about growing up in rural South Dakota, working in a Nebraska factory during WWII, the funny story of how she ended up joining the Navy instead of the Marines, meeting her husband Arnold, raising a family and teaching kindergarten in southwestern Minnesota.

And because this is Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens, of course we talk about food. Lois shares memories from her recipe box that she's kept since high school, favorite family recipes, her love of quilting and embroidery, and the 52 flour sack towels she embroidered in one year.

You'll also hear about her handwritten memoir, Echoes of My Life, which helps raise scholarship funds for future teachers at Southwest Minnesota State University.

This isn't your typical WWII veteran interview. It's a warm, unscripted visit with a remarkable woman whose 104 years remind us that history doesn't just live in museums and textbooks. Sometimes it sits across from us at the dining room table.

Host and Producer, Staci Mergenthal

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Season 4, Episode 7

What if a family recipe could make a college student feel a little more at home?

In this episode, I’m taking you inside the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse’s Recipes From Home program, which began in 2009 and gives first-year students—including international students—the opportunity to share meaningful family recipes. The UW–La Crosse dining team then turns those recipes into meals served in the Whitney Center Main Dining Room, sometimes feeding 1,200 to 1,500 students.

In this episode, I’m joined by members of the team who make the program happen:

• Lizzy Haywood, Associate Director for Business & Dining Operations
• Jessica Harke, Registered Dietician
• Christy Ihrke, Marketing Director for Dining Services
• Robbie Hanson, Chef
• Michael Raymond, Chef

We talk about where the recipes come from, what happens when a home recipe enters a professional food-service kitchen, how the chefs scale recipes for a crowd, and some of the student favorites—including Street Corn Chicken and Rice Bowls and Homemade Chicken Nuggets.

I also talk with Keira Burton, a psychology major from Northbrook, Illinois, whose family’s gluten-free Chicken Alfredo Bake was selected for the program.

Keira shared what it meant to see a family recipe served on campus—and why that connection between home and college can be so meaningful.

I’m sharing three student recipes from the Recipes From Home program:

Gluten-Free Chicken Alfredo Bake
Keira Burton — Northbrook, Illinois

Mee Goreng (Fried Noodles)
Zhe Yi Ng — Malaysia

Tres Leches Cake
Caden DeGlopper — Mukwonago, Wisconsin

Find all three recipes on the companion post at RandomSweets.com.

I want to thank my friend and previous Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens guest Shannon Thomasser, who first told me about Recipes From Home. Her son attended UW–La Crosse, and his family’s soup recipe was served in the dining hall. That little story stayed with me—and eventually led to this episode.

Because sometimes one person shares a recipe, and it leads to an entirely new story.

Thanks for listening to Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens!

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse

Website: https://www.uwlax.edu

Dining Services Website: https://dineoncampus.com/UWLACROSSE

Host and Producer, Staci Mergenthal

⁠⁠RandomSweets.com⁠⁠

Website ⁠⁠randomsweets.com⁠⁠

Instagram ⁠⁠@potatoesandmittens⁠⁠

Instagram ⁠⁠@randomsweets⁠⁠

Facebook: ⁠⁠Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens⁠⁠

Facebook ⁠⁠Random Sweets⁠⁠

Pinterest ⁠⁠@staciperry⁠⁠

Email: ⁠⁠staci@randomsweets.com⁠⁠