08/04/2026
The Ruedy Kitchen House historic site in Middle Amana operated by the Amana Heritage Society is just one of several historic sites you can visit in the Amana Colonies. But you can get a taste for the style of cooking in the kitchens by dining at the Ox Yoke Inn and the Ronneburg Restaurant both have the same side dishes, types of pies, and a few of the main dishes and soups you would have been served in an Amana communal kitchen. Both restaurants were founded by former communal cooks and their cousins and sisters.
Here's a note about Amana's communal kitchens 1855 - 1932. Over 50 of them served the entire population of the Amanas and their workers and visitors.
From an essay “Great Aunt Henrietta” by Henrietta Ruff written for "Seasons of Plenty, Amana Communal Cooking" 1994
Ruff wrote of her with deep respect for her great aunt, the manager of a busy Homestead kitchen house, and she described her as having “laughing eyes”, “unfailing good humor and a bustling energy.”
…Before ‘reorganization’ the 1932 end of the communal era in Amana, it was customary for Amana girls to leave school at 14 and to begin work in one of the community kitchens. I had completed 8th grade and was attending school until my 14th birthday, so I ‘graduated’ in February. A few days later, my Great Aunt Henrietta came for a visit. First to see my grandfather, who was a member of the Bruderrat, and then to see my family, principally me, to announce that next week I as to begin work in the kitchen of which she was the Küchebaas (kitchen boss). I had expected this and was secretly pleased that I was assigned to her kitchen and not another. So with both anticipation and anxiety I looked forward to the following Sunday.
The principal lessons were cooking, from simple fried potatoes for breakfast to the sweet rolls and coffee cake made of yeast dough and kneaded by hand. As did most women of her day, Great Aunt Henrietta knew the standard recipes by heart and used a cookbook only for cakes and some newer recipes. I followed instructions for cooking soup, creaming spinach, roasting meat and first it was fun, as long she told me what to do. But after a few weeks, when some of the dishes appeared on the menu again, she expected me to remember what ingredients to use and in what proportions. To my dismay I discovered that I had forgotten many of her earlier instructions. I dared not ask her, yet I hesitated to blunder ahead and perhaps spoil the meal for all the people the kitchen served. Finally - I did ask her – ‘was the farina for the soup put into a dry skillet or was the lard melted first and the farina added?’
She showed no annoyance, she did not scold, but her answer I will never forget. A few years ago she said she had a girl working there who could not seem to remember simple recipes, and she told this girl to get a little book and write down the ingredients and instructions to each dish. This solved her problem. To me this seemed a humiliating solution, and I resolved to pay closer attention. Needless to say I fared much better. . .
Photo: An Amana Communal Kitchen - pre 1900 - cooks and helpers peel potatoes on the porch.
