Stove Top Stuffing Creator Dies Wednesday, November 23, 2005



EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The home economist who helped create Stove Top Stuffing has died.

Ruth Siems died Nov. 13 after suffering a heart attack in her home in Newburgh, Ind. She was 74.

Siems worked for General Foods for more than 30 years after graduating from Purdue University in 1953 with a degree in home economics.

She helped develop the formula for Stove Top in 1971 while working at General Foods' technical center in White Plains, N.Y.

Siems' brother, David, said she found that precise bread crumb size was the secret in developing an instant stuffing.

Kraft Foods, which now owns the Stove Top brand, sells about 60 million boxes of the five-minute stuffing each year around Thanksgiving

Stove Top, instead of potatoes.