For 11 years Elizabeth Coblentz, an Old Order Amish woman, delighted her two million readers with a newspaper column about life with her eight children and 36 grandchildren on their 100-acre Indiana farm. She chronicled a life of canning tomatoes, butchering poultry and sewing clothes, while sharing news of her daughter's wedding and the sudden death of a grandchild.
When her husband, Ben, died two years ago, hundreds of readers sent condolence cards. Her columns, where she was known as "The Amish Cook," ran in the Cincinnati Post, the Kismet (Kan.) Klipper and 102 other newspapers nationwide, each ending with a recipe. Her cookbook will be published by Ten Speed Press in November.
But Tuesday, during a book tour in Blue Springs, Mo., some 500 miles from her home in Geneva, Ind., Mrs. Coblentz died at the age of 66. A traditional Amish funeral will be held Monday.
The boilerplate wire obit, appearing in many papers, makes mention of her sauerkraut bread, probably to invoke quaintness. I found it here and it invoked hunger, At the same site, I found this question, which invoked amusement:
I was linked to some page from your website where it talked about homemade V-8 juice. Do you have a recipe for this? I hope it's not the one I have seen on the Internet where you simply cook 15 pounds of tomatoes. I'd like to find a recipe that's strictly uncooked and that uses all the vegetables from the original V-8 and then, it is put through a high-quality juicing machine. Any thoughts on this???? Thanks in advance.
Additional amusement because of the editor's caveat:
[WARNING: The below is meant to describe as cultural insight how Elizabeth prepares V-8 juice. It is not an exact recipe and only people experienced in home-canning should try it Contact your local county extension agent for tips on proper home-canning. Oasis Newsfeatures assumes no liability for improper canning.]
...those who can measure, measure. Those who can cook, cook, And those who can can, can-can. Life is short, but the pantry is tall!
(a wink to Barb, my friend from rec.food.preserving;-)
