To view or leave comments on this story, click HERE.
Since it’s farm stand season here on the Old Mission Peninsula, it’s a great time to scour my OMP cookbook collection and see what interesting recipes I can find.
This particular recipe is taken from the “Peninsula Cook Book No. 2,” compiled by the Ladies’ Aid Society of Ogdensburg. I don’t see a publishing date, but it has ads from the likes of “Hannah & Lay Co.” and “S.E. Wait & Sons Druggists,” so I’m guessing maybe late 1800s, early 1900s…?
Old Mission Gazette is Reader Supported.
Click Here to Keep the Gazette Going.
This cookbook was given to my mom by Old Mission Peninsula resident Mrs. Mills, who I wrote about over here. Here are a few pages from the cookbook.
This German Potato Salad recipe – noted as “German Salad” in the book – is from Mrs. Nida Giles, who according to Ancestry.com was born on April 3, 1862 and died on April 6, 1935. She was married to Frank Giles, and they had one child, Wallace Giles.
I believe the Giles farm was located on Blue Water Road – someone from the Giles clan can weigh in (Kathy Schwartz, are you reading this?) – but they also owned the house and farm where “The Farm at Cherry Hill” is now located. Their farm stand is at 13200 Center Road, near the Peninsula Township Hall, but on the opposite side of the road.
Also, for this recipe, I would suggest using these amazing onions from Local Yokels Farm Stand, along with either their potatoes or the potatoes from Warren Orchards – Between the Bays, where I got these beauties…
Here we go with the recipe. Mrs. Giles doesn’t say if we’re supposed to do anything with the actual bacon itself, but I bet that would be good mixed into the potatoes and onions.
As for the bacon gravy, I’m not sure about that either. Do you think it’s just the fat from the fried bacon? Or would you actually make a gravy with the bacon fat using flour and water…? If you try this recipe, post your notes and modifications in the comments section below.
Mrs. Nida Giles’ German Salad
3 quarts cooked, cold, sliced potatoes
3 medium-sized onions, sliced thin
3 small or 2 large slices of bacon, fried
Put potatoes in bottom of dish, onions next. Pour bacon gravy over while hot.
Make a dressing of a pinch of mustard, salt and pepper, three spoonfuls of vinegar and 3 spoonfuls of water. Thicken with Hannah’s Best flour, pour over the potatoes and onions, and set away to cool.
SUPPORT YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL NEWSPAPER: I started Old Mission Gazette in 2015 because I felt a calling to provide the Old Mission Peninsula community with local news. After decades of writing for newspapers and magazines like the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Family Circle and Ladies' Home Journal, I really just wanted to write about my own community where I grew up on a cherry farm and raised my own family. So I started my own newspaper.
Because Old Mission Gazette is a "Reader Supported Newspaper" -- meaning it exists because of your financial support -- I hope you'll consider tossing a few bucks our way if I mention your event, your business, your organization or your news item, or if you simply love reading about what's happening on the OMP. In a time when local news is becoming a thing of the past, supporting an independent community newspaper is more important now than ever. Thank you so much for your support! -Jane Boursaw, Editor/Publisher, Old Mission Gazette
To keep the Gazette going, click here to make a donation.
To view or leave comments on this story, click HERE.
Rudy Giles farmhouse was located at the end of a long dirt road running East between Tim Holman’s north boundary and the (then) Ray and Margaret Dohm farm. Rudy and Irene had 3 children. Mary Jane, the eldest was in my grade at Mapleton School and St. Francis.
He was always called “Rudy”. He inherited what is now Brys Vineyard because Mrs. Elmer Brown, Ivy, was his mother (in an earlier marriage).
That’s all I know….
Best, faux farmer Tim