25 Years Later: Writer Reaches Milestone
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I would never have thought it possible in 1998, but I have reached twenty-five years writing the Post-Journal recipe page. It all started when I sent letters to the newspaper's editor and family editor telling of my concern about how the once weekly column seemed to be fading away. The letter stated that I was not a writer, but I had connections in nearly every town in the readership and was willing to help save it. At that time, I didn't realize how important being an outgoing person was to finding candidates to interview. I guess I thought people with a desire to be featured were contacting the paper, but this rarely happens.
I received a response from Brigetta Overcash, the Family Editor, a few days after I sent the letters and was introduced in the May 2, 1998 edition along with two other women who were supposed to share the responsibility with me. Prior to this, one of the two women had contributed many recipe pages. Each lady only wrote a couple of articles within the first few months after the announcement.
Some years, I submitted 52 recipe pages and some I didn't do nearly as well, depending on what was happening in my life. In the early years, I had a very ill husband. Mid-way through I was the church secretary, cleaner and activities planner at the little church my second husband pastored. I worked a 40-hour job in both cases.
I ran out of willing friends and coworkers within the first year or two. In the beginning, I would ask interviewees for contact info of friends and family members they thought might be interested in talking to me, but I find most of the people I feature when I am out in the community. I also contact people who post interesting businesses or hobbies on Facebook such a Wanda Johnson, a female drag racer and Tony Sanfilippo, a vintage jukebox and musical instrument collector.
I don't know how long the recipe page has been in existence, but I do know it was begun sometime before 1964, which makes it over 60 years old. When I started, I followed the tradition of the many former writers, who wrote six or seven paragraphs and included 5-6 recipes. Back then a Post-Journal photographer would take a picture of the subject, usually a woman, who was sitting with a few of the dishes they had prepared. After a short time, I started asking more questions and soon I had information that took up a full page. I asked for 10-12 recipes until a few years ago, when I realized that many readers were more interested in the human-interest stories than the recipes. I also started incorporating the person's interests or hobbies into the photo, when possible and stopped requiring them to prepare some of the recipes.
I had only written stories of the people I interviewed for the recipe page until about 7 years ago, when I wrote the story of my husband and I traveling the entire 2,440 miles of Route 66. After both the newspaper and I got a lot of positive feedback on the eleven-installment series, I decided to take notes during our trip west and to Alaska the next year, but never wrote the story. Since then, I have done the same with two more trips, but I did write about our trips to Vermont, New Hampshire and Tennessee. In another series, I told about the stops we made on a trip to Florida, traveling through the Panama Canal and three weeks spent in South America. It was so lengthy, I almost brought it to a close, but the editor encouraged me to keep writing because the story was getting many online hits. Again, a few weeks later, I decided it was time to pull the plug, but then I received emails from two women who told me how much they were enjoying reading about the trip. One said she was always happy to read my "to be continued." Therefore I continued a few more weeks.
Over the years, I have learned many readers think I go to the West Second Street offices of the Post-Journal on a daily basis. The truth is I may stop in once or twice per year, so seldom that I am not recognized. My articles are emailed, although I sometimes have brief telephone conversations with Editor John Whittaker or City Editor Eric Tichy, especially when I have an idea for a series and wonder if they think the readers will find it interesting. One of those ideas was to write about a few people who were in their nineties. Little did I know I would cover the lives of nearly 50 nonagenarians over the next year. Many were veterans from WWII or their spouses, one woman worked on the Manhattan Project and all had interesting stories of growing up in a time when it took hard work to survive. The onset of the Covid pandemic brought my series to a halt, but I have since featured a few more, including a very vibrant 104-year old woman.
I was contacted by an award-winning television director/producer from Los Angeles in February 2021. She had produced and directed content for Discovery, TLC, Reelz, BBC and others. She found my story on the Internet about my Amish friend, Cindy Burkholder and wanted to speak with me. During a 50-minute phone conversation I learned she was doing a major project on Amish people and was hoping I could help recruit a family. I didn't try very hard, knowing the Amish beliefs.
I drove to Hagerstown, MD last year to get a firsthand look at the People's Convoy and had the opportunity to meet many truckers who had a deep love for America and a passion for freedom. Among them was Brian Brase, one of the organizers, who had been interviewed by The Washington Post, New York Post, Los Angeles Times, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and me!
I got a boost in January of 2022 when the editor told me "analytics show some of your stories are read by thousands" and "one particular article was one of the most read pieces last year."
Much of my life has stayed the same since I wrote about my first 20 years with the paper. I still live in the house my first husband and I bought when I was 24 years old, am still with the man I married three years after my first husband's death, we still enjoy traveling, still have eight grandchildren and are still night owls and procrastinators. There have been a few changes over those five years. I finally replaced my 2006 Chrysler Town and Country, even though she only had 81,000 miles on the odometer. I hope to have as many great memories with the new 5-passenger Chevy Equinox as I did with my van. A new fun activity I like to plan is my Lame Day Trip. So far twelve friends have joined me on one or more of 10 day-long mystery trips. Another change in my life was the decision to move to a different church where I attend a weekly Bible study and help with the community garden.
After 20 years, I stopped saying "I don't know what I am doing" when I refer to writing, because I realized it was not honoring God for a talent He has developed in me. I am still amazed when someone compliments me on a story, because I didn't get very good grades when I wrote papers in school.
I have met many wonderful people and have made lasting friendships. Without the trust of Brigetta Overcash, the work of the people at the Post-Journal, the many people I have interviewed and the readers, 25 years would not have been possible.
Following the tradition of adding recipes, I am contributing three. We eat Dutch Baby for breakfast or dinner with bacon or ham. Although they are both Dutch Babies, they are very different. Cowboy Caviar is great for parties, but we sometimes use it as a vegetable with meals.
Dutch Baby (Baked Pancake)
1 large apple
2 T butter
Ç c maple syrup
3 eggs
å c milk
§ c flour
† tsp salt
Cinnamon or cardamom
Peel and slice apple into wedges. Over medium heat, melt butter in 9-inch by 9-inch Corning Ware pan or 10-inch cast-iron skillet. Add apple wedges. Turn over wedges after 3 minutes and continue cooking for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat. Pour syrup around apples. In a medium-size bowl, whisk eggs. Add milk, flour and salt and continue whisking until combined. A few tiny lumps are okay. Pour over apples. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake for 20 minutes in 400 degree oven. Serves 2-4.
Dutch Baby
Blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries
3 T butter
3 eggs
§ c milk
¢ tsp vanilla
¢ c flour
¢ tsp salt
Confectioners' sugar or maple syrup
Set 9-inch by 9-inch Corning Ware pan in oven and preheat at 425 degrees. Thoroughly rinse fruit and then drain in colander. Cut stems from strawberries and then cut in quarters. Set fruit aside. Add butter to heated pan and return to oven. Whisk eggs in medium-size bowl. Add milk, vanilla, flour and salt and whisk until combined. A few small lumps are okay. Carefully tip and swirl hot pan in order to get butter on sides. Pour batter into pan and bake for 18 minutes, making sure there is ample room above pan to allow pancake to expand. When done, cut into 4 pieces. After putting a portion on plate, either dust with Confectioners' or pour a small amount of syrup on pancake. Smother with lots of prepared mixed berries.
Cowboy Caviar
1 ear corn, cooked or roasted (canned may be used, but fresh is better)
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
¢ medium red onion, finely diced
§ yellow bell pepper, chopped
Tomato (optional or can be served on side)
Avocado (optional or can be served on side)
Scoop-shaped corn chips
Dressing (I usually double)
1/3 c olive oil
2 T or more lime juice
2 T red wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar or Stevia
¢ tsp salt
¢ tsp pepper
™ tsp garlic powder
Remove kernels from corn. In large bowl, fold together corn, beans, onion and pepper. Combine dressing ingredients and pour over vegetables. Gently stir. Refrigerate overnight, stirring occasionally. Use large slotted spoon to move vegetables to clean bowl or drain entire mixture. Olive oil will be slightly thick, but will liquify after it sits a few minutes. Remove seeds and then chop tomato. Cut avocado into bite-size cubes. Add to mixture or serve separately. Serve with scoops.