Amy Klein

We were all shocked with the news that our fellow cook, Amy Klein, passed away this week. Amy was fighting cancer and we all were under the impression that she was doing well in her treatment despite being hospitalized for pneumonia. Amy was always so positive and upbeat about how things were going, but that was Amy.

Amy was an original member of 37 Cooks, before we even were 37 Cooks. There was no blog, there was no social media and there were no volunteers. There really wasn't much to us at all! She worked hard to change that and she was proud of it. She volunteered in every way we'd let her! She was in charge of administration and Twitter and she volunteered to mentor new members. She was good at all of it, but she couldn't stand Twitter! Ha!

One of the hats I wear at 37 Cooks is what some have termed "mom". I take that as a compliment because I feel like the cooks are telling me I am their cheerleader and their biggest fan, their enourager and the one who sets boundaries when they need them. When I thought about it, I realized that Amy was all of those things to me. I appreciated that about her and I will really miss not having her around to keep me pumped up and in line.
She liked my cat. (And she would like that I mention this now.)

I have so many more stories about Amy, but what I think all of you will most likely remember about her is her cooking. She had an inventive style and all of us at 37 Cooks hope you will make her recipes. She would love that. She loved 37 Cooks.
My favorite recipe is her gummy worm tequila, if only because of the conversation we had before she made it. She started talking about a gummy worm tiara. And, of course, I googled it because I had no idea what she was talking about. Guess what? There ARE no gummy worm tequilas in the world! But there was one in Amy's imagination and it's this sense of whimsy, and sometimes even silliness, that was good medicine to so many people. Not just to the people in our group, but also to the people in the other cooking groups she was involved in online.

If you haven't already, read the blog posts by our fellow 37 cook Donna Currie on her own blog, Cookistry. It's all about Amy and about a recipe she shared in another of her favorite cooking groups, Serious Eats Water Cooler. It's such a pretty one!

I will leave you today with one more Amy story. One day I saw this on Amy's wall. I read it, chuckled and I moved on. Later that day, I went to the doctor with my adult daughter. Without getting into the lurid details, I was in the restroom and guess what was on the door? DRUNK OCTOPUS! Yes, this exact hook! I ran out of the bathroom, startled the doctor and several staff and went and got my daughter. "You HAVE to come see this!" and I took her in there. I took the doctor in there. I took the staff in there. I was laughing so hard I was crying. Do you see it? It's drunk octopus!

I got polite laughter.

But I told Amy about all of these shenanigans later and, of course, she totally got it! I am really going to miss you, Amy. All of us are. - Sandra, 37 Cooks