050 Mia Kouppa and The Greatest Love Story

There’s a surprise to every interview, and what I didn’t expect from this one was to be so smitten by the beautiful love story of Helen and Billie's (the sisters who blog at Mia Kouppa) parents. Today we meet a courageous, trailblazing woman who made a path in Canada, then returned to Greece to marry a man who knits, gardens, shops, and loved his wife so much, every day for 10 years, he left his job at a factory to join her at her job, so she could finish more quickly and return home with him. And what did they do when they returned home together? Why, they cooked, of course. Their story may be humble, but just like their food, it will nourish and uplift your soul.

Before I knew their parent's story, I was itching to know the Mia Kouppa ladies for a while. There’s a lot to appreciate about sisters Helen and Billie. They are warm, friendly, and funny ( and on that note: I highly recommend the opening paragraph to their post on today’s recipe, for Stewed green peas) and they blog with a mission: They take the delicious, healthy, flavorful simple Greek dishes of their parents generation, which have only ever been measured in relation to “Mia Kouppa” - a coffee cup in a cupboard - and translate them to actual recipes, with measurements the rest of us can use and replicate.

Highlights

Growing up as sisters in a small apartment filled with love and good cooking
Their mother's arrival from Greece to Canada in February, met with a pair of cheap boots and harsh employment
Their father's boundless energy, work ethic, sacrificial love, and many, many abilities
Helen and Billie's parents in the kitchen: "like a dance"
The translation and meaning of "Mia Kouppa"
Why the Greek diet is so frequently Vegetarian/Vegan