Memories of Mom: Gondek reflects on Mom's beloved coffee cake

It didn't matter whether you were celebrating a birthday or grieving the loss of a loved one, chances are you'd soon be the recipient of some straight-out-of-the-oven goodness.

"My mom was the coffee cake lady," said Orth's daughter Gretchen Gondek, smiling at the memory many years later. "It was her signature dish and people loved it."

Yet Orth wasn't always adept in the kitchen. 

"My mom lost her own mom when she was only 3 or 4 years old," Gondek said. "She was raised by family members and didn't learn how to cook until she was already an adult."

Many of Orth's recipes came from "The Joy of Cooking" cookbook she received after marrying her husband, Joseph.

Yet Orth, a Northwestern University graduate, also wanted a career.

"When I was growing up, many women were stay-at-home mothers but my mom always worked," said Gondek, 60. "Even though she worked in social services or for the Girl Scouts, Mom always made dinner for my dad, older brother, my twin brother and myself."

Orth's nightly meals epitomized Midwestern home cooking. From large lettuce salads made with fresh veggies from her home garden to the roast beef she made on the weekends, Orth made sure her family was always well fed.

"This is going to sound funny but I don't think we ever had leftovers," Gondek said. "Apparently, we ate everything Mom put in front of us."

Mostly, Gondek remembers the extravagant dinner parties her parents would throw for family and friends.

"Those were the times my mom really shined," Gondek said. "She got to be a hostess as well as a cook."

It was also when Orth could break out her fancy Haviland & Co. dishware.

"Times were more formal back then," Gondek recalled. "It's to bad we've gotten away from a time when a dinner party wouldn't be a dinner party without one's Haviland china."

More than five years has passed since Orth died.

"My mom had a great life," Gondek said, smiling. "She died at age 83, in her sleep while vacationing in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. We should all be as lucky to go like my mom."

Gondek pulled out photos of herself and her mom. She glanced at a picture taken at her own wedding to husband Russ Gondek.

"This was in 1987 and Mom got me a copy of 'The Joy of Cooking,'" she said. "I guess she wanted that to be a family tradition."

Even more than that, Orth began sharing many family recipes with her only daughter.

"Mom was never afraid to try anything," Gondek said. "Everything didn't turn out the way she wanted but it was still good."

Over time, Gondek became an excellent cook and hostess in much the same way her mom had been.

Just like Orth, her time was limited due to a hectic career.

Gondek retired in August after a 30-year career as general manager of KWIT-KOJI Public Radio.

Still, she became known for making stuffed peppers and creating elaborate melt-in-your-mouth meringues. 

Gondek also refers to the little checkered file card box she inherited from Orth.

"When a recipe is passed down from one generation to the next, it becomes a part of our legacy," Gondek said. "If I cook from one of Mom's old recipe cards, I'm keeping a part of my mom alive."

And that includes the scrumptious "Never Fail" coffee cake Orth was always known for.

Eating a fresh piece of coffee cake that she made in her mom's memory, Gondek can't help but smile.

"My mom was right to call this her 'Never Fail' coffee cake because it's just as delicious as ever," Gondek said.

But the dessert is much more than that.

It's a memory of spending time with her mom on a cold winter day in a small town in Northern Iowa. The recipe represents a moment of time but it also represents a heritage passed down from one generation to the next.

"My mom loved thus recipe because it was something she loved to share with other people," Gondek said. "Whenever I make it, it reminds me of her."