GERMAN POTATO SALAD
15lb. potatoes
1 onion, diced
12 cups diced celery
1/2lb. bacon
1 pt. vinegar
1 tbsp. salt
Cook potatoes until done, but still firm. Dice cut bacon into smallpieces, fry with onions. Add vinegar to bacon. Heat, combine all ingredients.
This might seem a rather large recipe and it is. This is a recipe from a booklet put out by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1939, to be given to county homes, poor farms, almshouses, and other like institutions as dietary guidance.
Though small, this book contains several recipes and lists of items that should be always kept on hand to meet the needs of people living in various types of institutions.
Meal plans are also included that show the structure of meals throughout the days and weeks of the cycles at the County Home. For Instance, a typical day would have a breakfast of something like stewed peaches, wheatena cereal, bread and butter, and coffee or milk. Lunch could be boiled pork or beef, sauerkraut or creamed Peas, mashed potatoes, cinnamon buns, and butter. Supper was often light, with items like fried cornmeal mush with syrup, stewed tomatoes, bread and butter, applesauce, and tea or cocoa.
It was recommended that residents of the County Home receive meat four to five times a week, and at least once daily for those who were working, but the book notes that meat being the most expensive commodity in the County Home stores, it must be used wisely and be carefully purchased and prepared to not create undue waste.
No one, the book states, should fill up on bread, or bread and syrup – whole grain cereals are preferable, but the book warns that it may take patience to achieve popularity for these foods.
Tomatoes and fruits were considered very important items for their health benefits, and we know that at the Greene County Home, such items were grown in abundance, and occasionally in excess to be sold at local markets.
But above all, the book states that Ingenuity and originality must be practiced in meal preparation to prevent monotony, and to promote good health.
Such a book provides a very interesting glimpse into the daily life and routine of an institution such as the County Home and helps us to gain a better understanding of what life may have been like for the folks that lived there.
The Greene County Historical Society Museum, housed in the Old County Home has not one, but two, kitchen rooms open for display. A kitchen dating to the 1930s, and an earlier 19th century kitchen with a brick oven. Keep an eye out on our Facebook page for updates and events, and we hope to see you soon!