About

Welcome to Kay’s Village Recipes, a collection of family recipes handed down from one generation to another.  These free recipes are family tested and approved.  You will find everything from soup to nuts, comfort foods, healthy treats and family favorites.  Family meals and traditions define who we are and nurture the family spirit.  The goal of this blog is to preserve that heritage and the memories associated with them.

Some believe the heart of the home is in the kitchen, I believe the kitchen is the heart of the village.  It takes a “village” to live life to its fullest and it has nothing to do with geography or how large or small a town you live in.  My “village” is inhabited by family members, dear friends, co-workers, and the occasional visitor who is in my life for a short period of time.  Each one of these people has a profound impact on my emotional wellbeing as well as the quality of my life, and all have one thing in common…they all love to eat, and I love to cook for them.

Allow me to introduce myself; my name is Kay Johnson-Tomblin.  My love of cooking started when I was nine years old when my mother started working the afternoon shift.  The first evening she worked, my father asked me if I was hungry.  When I said yes, he told me; “then it’s time for you to learn to cook.”  What a wonderful adventure we started that evening!  With my father directing me, I made dinner that evening and discovered the love and joy of cooking.  Baking soon followed and I quickly became the family baker, making everything from scratch. 

My mother, Virginia Bowers-Johnson, worked in the restaurant business and was an excellent cook.  She truly loved cooking and feeding people, both at work and at home.  That love was passed on to me, and I will be forever grateful to her.  Watching her in the kitchen and being her sous chef taught me all of her secrets, the recipes that existed only in her head, and how to cook from your soul with love (two of the most important ingredients in any recipe). 

My parents were from West Virginia and migrated their way to Detroit, the Motor City.  Both worked full-time jobs and raised a family of three daughters, I am the youngest.  Meal times were family time, and we bonded over those meals.  Traditions were made and kept up throughout the years.  Mom’s cooking nourished our bodies and the heart of the family.  I carried those traditions forward; the family mealtime, the menus and recipes, adding a few of my own from time-to-time.  Even now that my kids are grown, we still get together at the dining room table, catching up over a good meal.  I feel Mother’s influence to this day.

After my mother passed away I found not only her recipes, but my grandmother’s as well.  Finding a way to share this treasure of family memories is why I’m writing this blog.  Future postings will feature their recipe collections.  Sharing recipes is an honored tradition throughout time, from village to village, from family to family, around the world.

It is my hope that you will find recipes here that you and your village will enjoy, and that you will visit my village often!

Enjoy!

Kay Johnson-Tomblin

On this blog you will find free, family recipes for: homemade soups, breads, apple pie, cakes, candies, Heart Healthy Snack Mix, salads, casseroles, main courses, side dishes, appetizers, breakfast, canning, holiday foods, West Virginia home-style cooking, and so much more.