Houk thankful

There is a lot to be thankful for in the Houk household this Thanksgiving. On Thursday Laura Houk, Iola, found out from her doctor she is cancer-free.
“I’m thankful that I’m still here this year,” Houk said.
Houk has been battling ovarian cancer.
The cancer was discovered last August when she experienced abdominal pain and was rushed to the emergency room. After tests she was diagnosed with stage III ovarian cancer. Thanksgiving last year she was in the middle of cancer treatments. This week scans done at University of Kansas Medical Center came back clear. Houk said she knows God is the reason the treatments worked. She and her family attend Harvest Baptist Church in Iola and faith is a big part of their lives.
Before cancer took hold, Houk was in the process of opening her own restaurant on Humboldt’s square. The week she was diagnosed she was about to meet with food vendors. Once she was diagnosed she put the brakes on the restaurant but she still hopes to open a restaurant in the future.
“I love cooking for other people,” Houk said. “I like sharing food with my family and people at church.”
In April, Houk married her husband Justin. With the marriage the couple united their two families. Houk has two sons Devon, 21, Cody, 18, and a daughter, Ty, 13. Justin has three daughters Ashley, 19, Sydney, 15 and Sadie, 14.
Laura and Justin own a Sno-Cone and funnel cake trailer together. During the summer months Justin had the trailer in Corleone’s parking lot. He also traveled to local fairs.

HOUK said she became interested in cooking from her grandmother.
“My grandma is an awesome cook,” she said. “At Thanksgiving everyone would always go there,” including her two brothers, cousins, aunts and uncles. Now that they are older they do their own dinners.
For Thanksgiving dinner she makes her grandma’s noodles and brings a few desserts. She enjoys making cookies, banana creme pie, chocolate creme pie and pumpkin pie. This year she said she will be going to her mother’s home in Chanute.
“One of my favorite recipes is my aunt’s buttermilk brownies,” she said.
Houk whipped up some pumpkin muffins and shared the recipe with Register readers. The muffins are a big hit during the fall months for either bunch or breakfast.