Ten years ago, Marcia Adams of Winona Lake was a weekly food columnist for the Times-Union.

Today, Marcia Adams of Fort Wayne has published six cookbooks during the past eight years, publishes a quarterly newsletter and hosts a 26-week-a-year television food show on PBS.

Adams' latest cookbook, "New Recipes from Quilt Country" (Clarkson Potter, $30), was released in October and continues her chronicles of Amish and Mennonite recipes as well as offering a history lesson on their way of life.

The chapters begin with "Good Morning" and end with "Good Night," noting foods the Amish might cook for various activities throughout their days, from "Family Breakfast" and "The School Lunch Bucket" to "The Roadside Stand" and "Growing Up Amish."

The recipes and stories in the book were gathered while Adams and her husband, Dick, traveled to Amish and Mennonite communities throughout the United States.

During a recent telephone interview, Adams said her motivation to write cookbooks came from writing her food column, which also appeared in a Fort Wayne newspaper.

"I think I'm crazy," she said, adding that it takes about two years to compile the information for a cookbook. "Newspaper work really prepared me for book work ... You work when you don't feel like it (to meet deadlines) and you must write with clarity."

When she decided to pursue her cookbook dreams, Adams said she floundered around for several months before choosing her direction.

"Nothing had ever been published on Indiana Amish," she said, "and I believe it was their cookery that influenced our region."

With her first cookbook, "Cooking from Quilt Country" (1989), she said she took three copies of the manuscript to editors in New York. Having worked with the Fort Wayne Art Museum gave Adams connections to people of influence in New York and allowed her to deal directly with editors rather than having her work go into a "flush pile," which usually resulted in her work being rejected.

"I was in the right place at the right time with the right material," Adams said. "This was right at the beginning of the emphasis on country."

The Amish and Mennonites are traditionally known to shy away from publicity and notoriety, but Adams was able to merge with them because of her close ties to such communites. Adams grew up on a farm and accompanied her father to Amish auctions, thereby establishing contacts in the Amish community. She also has many Mennonite friends who guided her to Amish people willing to talk.

"I was always looking for the Amish woman who was willing to talk," Adams said. "Food is a very nonthreatening subject."

When she met with the women, she said that she always "dressed down," choosing conservative clothes and omitting jewelry and makeup.

She has always been impressed with the abilities of Amish cooks and, according to a press release from Clarkson Potter: "Having chronicled Amish and Mennonite lifestyles and food for more than a decade, no one knows better than Marcia the importance of preserving the endangered culinary traditions and values of these communities, one of the most important being the verbal tradition of passing recipes from mother to daughter."

"These are women who've never had a home ec class and only went to school until eighth grade, yet they know how to combine ingredients that result in a variety of tastes," Adams said.

"New Recipes from Quilt Country" includes 175 new recipes, all of which have been tested. The recipes from this book will be used for the new season of her PBS cooking series, "Marcia Adams' Kitchen." This year, Adams makes a move from taping in Ohio to Maryland, where the on-site filming has already taken place. The cooking portion of the 26 shows will be shot during a one-month period and aired throughout the year.

Adams moved from Winona Lake to Fort Wayne in 1993 to be closer to the airport, for one, but she said she does miss living here. "I miss the lake. I miss the birds and water," she said, "but it was a matter of convenience."

Jetting around not only keeps Adams busy, but also pulled her husband out of retirement to act as her business manager.

Her first book was a best-seller and has nearly 300,000 copies in print. It won an award for Best Regional Cookbook in 1989. Her other books are "Heartland" (1991), "Christmas in the Heartland" (1992), "Marcia Adams' Heirloom Recipes" (1994) and "Recipes Remembered" (1995). All of her books focus on Amish/Mennonite or midwestern food traditions.

Adams has acted as a spokeswoman for Minute Tapioca and The Fremont Co., lectures around the country and has written for magazines including "Gourmet," "New York Times Sunday Magazine," "McCall's" and "TV Guide." She has appeared on many national television shows, including "Good Morning America."

The following are sample recipes from "New Recipes from Quilt Country":

The Very Best Beef Pot Roast

Serves 6

This pot roast qualifies as the best, not only because of the intense flavor but because it's so simple to prepare - no browning! Just place the meat in the oven at a very low temperature and forget it for six hours. Though the recipe calls for no liquid, the roast produces quite a bit of meat juice, which is very nice ladled over mashed potatoes or plain buttered noodles seasoned with a bit of onion.

1 3-pound beef chuck roast, all fat removed

Salt and coarsely ground black pepper

1/2 tablespoon minced fresh thyme, or rounded 1/2 teaspoon dried (optional)

2 crumbled bay leaves

1 large onion, sliced

Preheat oven to 275û F. Grease a shallow 9x13-inch pan and place the roast in it. Sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper to taste, the thyme, bay leaves and onion. Cover the dish tightly with heavy-duty foil and bake the roast without lifting the foil, for 6 hours. Let the roast stand for 10 minutes before slicing into serving portions or shredding for sandwiches. Serve hot, though this reheats very well.

Tomato Cheese Bread

Makes 1 loaf

Vera Jess belongs to an Old Order Amish community in Arthur, Ill., and prepares meals for tourists who want to know more about Amish life and food. She gives approximately 50 dinners a year, mostly for busloads of visitors. She also caters banquets for up to 100 people. She and her 14-year-old daughter, Mary, do all the work, rolling out of bed at 2:30 a.m. on the days they have the dinners. She is also a scribe for The Budget, the popular Amish and conservative Mennonite weekly newspaper, which is a series of letters from correspondents (scribes) all over the world.

Vera frequently tries new recipes from the "Country Home" and "Taste of Home" magazine, though the foods served at her dinners are traditional recipes, like this flavorful quick bread. It's well seasoned and deep orange in color, and it's unforgettably good.

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil, or 1 teaspoon dried

2 eggs

1 cup fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded and finely chopped

2 tablespoons tomato paste

6 tablespoons melted butter

1/8 teaspoon hot red pepper sauce

Preheat the oven to 350û F. Grease a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cumin, baking soda and pepper. Stir in the cheese and basil. [[In-content Ad]]