Brats and German Potato Salad for Father’s Day

It’s Father’s Day weekend and the perfect time for a family cookout! As we have worked hard to be safe and keep our distance because we know this coronavirus is still very much with us, we know the safest way to be together is outdoors where we can still keep distance and wear our masks. And it’s just so good to be in the sunshine.

Our Father’s Day won’t look like other Father’s Days in the past with big gatherings, but we can still be together and share food as we remember to sanitize and wash our hands.

I thought the best thing to do was just grill out. Mike loves brats, so we are having those plus some hot dogs, and I am making some German potato salad. This seems like something my father would have loved too! Dad didn’t do a lot of cooking himself. He entered the Army just about the time World War II was over, and they made him a cook! But he always said my mom wouldn’t let him in the kitchen because he could only make things in huge quantities!

The recipe for German potato salad came from a little “Card Catalogue” cookbook the Yellow Springs Library Association printed years ago. I love community cookbooks, and this one has been one of my favorite little cookbooks over the years. This recipe is from Margaret Howard, the wife of the then-editor of the Yellow Springs News. I’ve made it over the years; it is delicious and pretty easy.

I also made two of Mike’s favorite things this week — cherry pie (I made it into a big slab pie) and cheesecake. I made these early in the week in case some of the kids stopped by for an early Father’s Day celebration.

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads!

German Potato Salad

recipe from Margaret Howard

6 medium potatoes

1 cup sliced celery (crescents)

1 diced medium onion

2 Tablespoons chopped parsley

3/4 cup vinegar

1 teaspoon celery salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 Tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)

1 1/2 cup water

1/4 pound bacon, cut fine

5 teaspoons flour mixed smooth in a little water

Boil potatoes in their skins, peel, and slice warm. Fry cut bacon until crisp and remove from skillet. Add onion to bacon fat and cook one minute. Add vinegar, water and seasonings and boil about 10 minutes. Add chopped celery and parsley to the sliced potatoes. Pour some of the liquid sauce over the potatoes, also adding the cooked onions. Thicken the remaining sauce with the flour mixture and pour over the potatoes. Sprinkle bacon on top and let stand for at least one hour. If refrigerated overnight, flavor improves but warm very carefully so as not to lose crispness of celery.

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By Fran DeWine

Ohio First Lady Fran DeWine is a Cedarville resident, Yellow Springs native and guest columnist.