Q&A with Yvette Maijala

Louisiana native and Magnolia Café owner Yvette Maijala doesn't mind how you pronounce her first name, but it does make her a little crazy when people hack her surname - pronounced MY-a-la (the "j" is silent).

The Cajun transplant came by that very Finnish last name by falling in love with Arne Majaila, an Esko native, when the two of them were young adults working in western Washington.

Now they live in rural Carlton County and have (almost) raised two kids: Anja, a college sophomore who is a cross-country skier for the University of Alaska Fairbanks and is studying conservation and wildlife...