Lottie

In late 2019, I started to really look through Lottie Simon's cookbook, Your Favorites From Simon's  Being a big fan of Julie Powell's book, I started to toy with the idea of cooking my way through Lottie's cookbook.  And then 2020 happened.  My grocery habits changed drastically, so I put it on hold.  But it's 2021, a new year, and time to make a new start.

But who was Lottie Simon?

About 15 years ago, I got an Ancestry account, and really started to research.  Lottie Ellen (Starn) Simon was my great-great grandmother.  She was born near Smithville, Ohio on May 1, 1884, the eighth of 13 childron born to William and Angeline Starn.  Her father passed away in 1896, when Lottie was 11 years old.  I don't know first hand what she was like when she was young, but from her life events and stories about her later life, she was probably a little bit of a wild child.  On May 14, 1902, she gave birth to her first child, Robert.  Three days later, she married Harry Simon, and would go on to have 6 more children in the next 19 years, including my great-grandmother, Evelyn in 1904.  She and Harry were married for 54 years, until he passed away in 1956.  

During her time in Orrville, Lottie started cooking for various clubs and organizations, which evolved into a successful catering operation.  In 1953, Lottie and Harry bought their home at 853 S. Vine St., in Orrville, and Lottie opened a small tea room, hosting dinners for community organizations.  She ran the restaurant until 1961, when health problems forced her to sell the house and shutter the business.  She passed at away at her home on N. Vine St. on January 16, 1969.