The "Best of" series began almost accidentally. Â The Amish Cook column began back in 1991 and in those days newspapers were the only place to read the column. Â During that time period the column was written by Lovina's mom, Elizabeth Coblentz. Â The internet, web, and all its wonders were still several years away. Â Newspapers were continuously adding the column. Â Only the Quincy, Illinois Herald-Whig newspaper has carried the column from Day 1 and they still run it today. So a reader in a city whose newspaper just began the column in, say, 1995 would often wonder how they could go and read the columns from the beginning. Â One reader wrote asking if we could publish all the columns from the beginning in book form. Â I thought it was an OK idea. Â And that's how "The Best of The Amish Cook" series was born. Â I don't think Elizabeth or myself really thought the books would sell that well, but these volumes have proved incredibly popular over the years, often proving to be the column's "work-horse." Â Even if you've read the columns yourself in the weekly newspaper or online there's just something comforting about having them in a book form. Â You flip through the pages and re-read about family life in the Coblentz or Eicher household and you just feel a sense of serenity and comfort. Â Plus you get the revisit a ton of old-favorite recipes. Â The recipes in Vol 4 are among the best yet: Â frosty strawberry squares, cinnamon coffeecake, raspberry muffins, pumpkin sheetcake, asparagus bread, and sweet onion casserole are among the timeless favorites found in this book. Â The Best of series is getting a bit of a cosmetic makeover. Â The plain covers of the past are being replaced with a bit brighter, crisper and colorful cover. Over the weeks ahead all the Best of books will be reintroduced. Â You can order The Best of The Amish Cook, Volume 4 this week and receive free shipping. Â The books will ship to you from Amazon next week, click here to order.
Randi
It looks AWESOME!
Charlotte
Is Volume 1 available?
Kevin
Charlotte, Volume 1 is not yet available in the redesigned, reformatted state...will be soon, stay tuned!:)
Dawn Kirk
Didn't Rachel take that picture of the raspberries? (my favorite fruit!)
Kevin
Yes, she did...gorgeous photo!
Mrs. Doris Mace
"The Amish Cook" column in the Cincinnati Enquirer dated May 23, 2012 has a recipe for Frosty Strawberry Squares. It is as follows: 1 cup sugar, 2 cups crushed fresh strawberries, 1 cup whipping cream. The instructions begin with "Beat together egg whites, berries, and sugar for 10 minutes in a large bowl." Unfortunately, no mention is made of the egg whites in the ingredient listing. Thus it is not possible to know the amount of egg whites to use, and this makes the recipe useless. I would very much appreciate it if someone would "finish" this recipe so that I might try it, as it sounds quite good. (I am a widowed, 86 year old female who still loves to cook.) Thanks for your help!
Kevin
Doris,
It should be two egg whites! - Kevin
SC Susie
Received my copy today and just LOVE it. I have loads of zucchini this year and was thrilled to see so many recipes to try! Thanks for all your hard work on this one, Kevin!