Memorializing MeMaw

One Cheese Straw at a Time.

- Gennie Taylor

MeMaw’s Cheese Straws began in 2008 when family and friends who had tasted the crispy, crunchy delicacy that MeMaw had prepared for many showers, wedding receptions, and parties and knew that hers were the best, encouraged Angie Edgar to begin selling her specialty. “The business began sales during the Christmas holidays that year, and we haven’t looked back since that time,” Edgar, a retired Business Education and Computer teacher from Manchester Academy in Yazoo City, said.

The company was named for Edgar’s mother, Velma H. Hearst, from Benton. She was called “MeMaw” by her grandchildren.

“The name ‘MeMaw’s Cheese Straws’ was an answer to prayer, and God immediately put us to work and opened doors and windows to introducing everyone to what MeMaw had always prepared as an act of love,” Edgar said. “We lost our mother, grandmother, and friend in 2010; however, she lives on every day in this business. They are prepared in small batches with that zesty little kick at the end—just the way MeMaw made them.”

Edgar said her mother was the best cook she’s ever known.

“For as long as I can remember, my mama made cheese straws at Christmas, for church socials, baby and wedding showers, parties, and receptions, Edgar said. “I began to prepare her cheese straws when the process of squeezing them out by hand became hard for her to do. I prepared them for lots of occasions, as well as gifts to teachers, friends, and family. The response to my Mama’s recipe kept coming back the same: ‘Angie, you need to market her cheese straws.’”