I'm always a little wistful this time of year....It was July, right about this date, that I first met the late Elizabeth Coblentz.  I was a shy, uncertain 18-year-old and I never dreamed that 22 years later - less shy, but still uncertain - the column I conceived and created would still be humming along.  Crazy how life works. Here is a photo of the old Coblentz homestead outside of Geneva, Indiana.  Looks beautiful in the twilight. I was doing some cleaning in my office last night and I came across the first note Elizabeth ever wrote to me.  She tucked it inside an envelope with her first columns, a short and sweet note:
Good Morn -
Hope all are well! Same here!Â
Enclosed would be 2 issues for 1 month. Is this what you meant to do - the way I have set them up? Done it in a hurry as we've been so busy. Just hope the enclosed  is the right material you wanted. If this isn't what you prefer - let me know! Really I don't care to have my name signed to each issue if that's okay with you to not have my name signed to it. It's your column. Okay?  Must get going as I have a tour this p.m. and always plenty to do.  Take care!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Ben A. (Elizabeth) Coblentz
PS Just hope these write-ups are what you were wanting. Good luck!
Interesting to read the above note because at first Elizabeth did not want her name with the column and I was more than happy to go along with that. Â Editors at newspapers, however, quickly balked at the idea of just using her first name. Â In retrospect, maybe I should have just assigned her a pen name. Â This was 1991 and Elizabeth offered occasional tours of her home in conjunction with the local Visitors Bureau so that is the reference to a "tour" that she made. Â But from that humble beginning, the column grew and I built it brick by brick and here we are.....Thank you readers for some wonderful - if not always easy - years, hopefully many more ahead!
Kentuckylady717
Thanks for this Kevin, I have several books of "THE AMISH COOK " thanks to you 🙂 have read a lot of it, but not all yet.....they are wonderful cookbooks and so much informative reading in them all....I feel like I knew Mrs. Coblentz and her entire family, and would have been honored to do so. So glad Lovena is taking over her mom's place in her writing, enjoy reading what she writes and her recipes....for anyone who hasn't purchased ELIZABETH COLBENTZ'S cook books, you don't know what you are missing....there is lots of personal information in there and manyh, many great recipes, I have shared my books with my friends here and they have enjoyed them so much.....so thanks again Kevin......
Kentuckylady717
Hi Kevin,
Do you think you could put us an EDIT BUTTON on here ? I just now reread my msg. and see a couple of mistakes.....sorry folks about this....
JUDY
Thank you for sharing this picture!!!
I too am just beginning to read the writings of this dear lady in "The Best of the Amish Cook."
What a privilege it was for you Kevin to have known her and her family.
I could only try and picture her home in my mind but now I can see it.
Thank you!
And please share whatever pictures you may have of this beautiful family!!!
Thank you for letting us have a peek into the lives of the Amish life and especially the Coblentz family!!
Tiffanie
Thanks for sharing this! I first started reading the column while she was writing it, so very interesting. And it's always fun to hear tidbits of how things got started! :>
Lois Morgan
Hi Kevin,
I too feel as if I knew Elizabeth Coblentz and I was so sorry when she wrote about Ben's death and then we read about her own. She was authentic and very real to us, her lucky readers.
Elaine B.
Hi Kevin,
Is there some way to print just the recipes you offer without printing an entire page?