# Hot Bacon Dressing (Pennsylvania Dutch)



## Bearcarver

*Hot Bacon Dressing* (Pennsylvania Dutch)

*If you never had this, you won't believe how good it is!!!*

I did a search on this forum, and I couldn't believe I couldn't find this. This dressing has been passed down in my family as far back as I know of. My Grandparents used it on Endive or Dandelion greens, but I never did acquire a taste for those greens, as they are quite bitter. I use it on lettuce & cut up tomatoes, and usually just lettuce. I don't personally add anything else, because I don't like any of the awesome Bacon dressing flavor covered up. Some PA Dutch people also use it on German Potato Salad, but that was never done in my family, that I know of.
In my area, most restaurants offer it on a salad, on their regular menu. They vary a bit, but most are very good, and some are just about identical to the way ours tastes.
You can make it thinner or thicken it to your taste, but below is the way we make it.

There is also a commercial outfit (Wos-Wit) that produces & sells it in various sized jars, and their product tastes very similar. I'll add a picture of that below.

*So here we go---Ingredients:*
1 large egg, well beaten
1/4 to 1/3 cup granulated sugar (your taste)
1/4 cup vinegar
2 cups water
4 to 6 strips bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces (your taste)
3 tablespoon all purpose flour

*How To:*
Beat the sugar into the egg. Add the vinegar and water, and beat well. Stir in the flour and stir until smooth.
Meanwhile, brown the bacon in a frying pan.
Remove Bacon from pan & save, leaving Bacon Fat in pan.
Pour the mixture into hot frying pan with Bacon fat, and cook over medium-high heat until thickened, stirring constantly.
Add saved Bacon pieces to the pan with the mixture, and continue to stir for another minute or two.
Pour Hot Bacon Dressing over chopped greens and mix thoroughly. Serve immediately.

*Notes:* The dressing can be prepared ahead and reheated, stirring constantly to keep from sticking to pan. If it gets too thick, add a little water. Depending on how big your salad is, you might have leftover dressing. It can be refrigerated and reheated before pouring on fresh greens. It can also be reheated in the microwave, being careful not to boil it too much.

Enjoy,
Bear

*Note:*   I should mention the batch Mrs Bear & I made below was actually a half batch of the above ingredients.


Frying up some Bacon pieces:








Mix all ingredients well:







Remove Fried Bacon pieces from pan, and save, leaving Bacon fat in pan:







Pour Dressing into pan with Bacon fat, and cook over medium-high heat until thickened, stirring constantly:







Dump Fried Bacon pieces into mixture, and stir for another minute or two:







Pour the amount of “Hot Bacon Dressing” that you want into your salad & toss just a bit:







Commercially made Bacon Dressing, by "Wos-Wit" is very similar:


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## ak1

That looks interesting. I'll try it soon. Thanks for the recipe.


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## chef willie

Oh boy.....I felt an artery closing but I gotta make this. Back in the City the family loved German Potato Salad and this sounds so close to the dressing. That would make an old boot taste good. Thanks Bear....another thing on the 'list'......Willie


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## foamheart

LOL.... strange how memories come out around food. My Pop made a hot bacon/mustard salad dressing. He would pour it HOT over the fresh leaf greens/lettuces from the garden and the lettuce would slightly wilt. Never figured it out, and it was never greasy (most of my attempts have been).

/whispers Oh and Bear, those shots in the hospital have made your hands look kind of girlie, just sayin.............


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## frosty

Good job Bearcarver!  My mom used to make  "wilted salad" similara to what Foamheart mentioned but much lighter in color almost transparent.  Seeing yours brought memories flooding back.  Might cool..  I'll have to try yours.


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## pc farmer

My wife used to make this until we found out my son is allergic to eggs.

Boy we sure do miss it.


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## foamheart

c farmer said:


> Boy we sure do miss it him.


There, I fixed it for ya C-Man!


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## pc farmer

LOL


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## Bearcarver

AK1 said:


> That looks interesting. I'll try it soon. Thanks for the recipe.


Thanks AK1 !!

Good to see ya!

Bear


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## ak1

Thanks. I haven't been around for a while. It's nice to be back.


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## rdknb

That looks oh so good.


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## Bearcarver

Chef Willie said:


> Oh boy.....I felt an artery closing but I gotta make this. Back in the City the family loved German Potato Salad and this sounds so close to the dressing. That would make an old boot taste good. Thanks Bear....another thing on the 'list'......Willie


Thanks Willie!!!

This probably was real close to what they put on that German Tater Salad!!!

Bear


Foamheart said:


> LOL.... strange how memories come out around food. My Pop made a hot bacon/mustard salad dressing. He would pour it HOT over the fresh leaf greens/lettuces from the garden and the lettuce would slightly wilt. Never figured it out, and it was never greasy (most of my attempts have been).
> 
> /whispers Oh and Bear, those shots in the hospital have made your hands look kind of girlie, just sayin.............


Thanks Foamy !!

LOL---I couldn't figure out how to stir & take pics at the same time.

Mrs Bear had to do the hard work this time.

She enjoys it more than visiting me in the Hospital from 10 AM to 6 PM, 28 days in a row!!

Tomorrow is my one year Anniversary of getting out of the Hospital !!

Bear


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## davidhef88

Bear, thanks for another great recipe. Going to try to whip this up this weekend. Congrats on your one year release from the hospital. Glad to have you back.


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## shtrdave

My mother used to make some type of bacon dressing for on here dandelion, it was bacon flour vinegar and water not sure what else, it was a medium brown color, and would set up when refrigerated. she would warm it some and mix with the dandelion. I wasn't a fan because I am not a strong vinegar taste fan. I may try your's Bear, and see if it is what I remember.


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## Bearcarver

Frosty said:


> Good job Bearcarver!  My mom used to make  "wilted salad" similara to what Foamheart mentioned but much lighter in color almost transparent.  Seeing yours brought memories flooding back.  Might cool..  I'll have to try yours.


Thanks Frosty!!

I had some in a little restaurant, that was transparent. The taste was very similar.

Bear


c farmer said:


> My wife used to make this until we found out my son is allergic to eggs.
> 
> Boy we sure do miss it.


I don't really know what that one egg does, but you could try s batch without it.

Bear


RdKnB said:


> That looks oh so good.


Thanks Neighbor!!

Bear


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## jalan43

I love it! I grew up on it and still make it whenever I get the chance. Maybe today.


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## Bearcarver

Davidhef88 said:


> Bear, thanks for another great recipe. Going to try to whip this up this weekend. Congrats on your one year release from the hospital. Glad to have you back.


Thank You Much, Dave!!!

Bear


shtrdave said:


> My mother used to make some type of bacon dressing for on here dandelion, it was bacon flour vinegar and water not sure what else, it was a medium brown color, and would set up when refrigerated. she would warm it some and mix with the dandelion. I wasn't a fan because I am not a strong vinegar taste fan. I may try your's Bear, and see if it is what I remember.


Thank You!

Sounds pretty close!

There seems to be a lot of them that aren't much different from each other.

Bear


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## Bearcarver

jalan43 said:


> I love it! I grew up on it and still make it whenever I get the chance. Maybe today.


That's great !!!

Is your recipe similar?

Bear


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## jalan43

My recipe is exactly the same as yours! I like to use more bacon.


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## smokingreg

i love hot bacon dressing.


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## Bearcarver

jalan43 said:


> My recipe is exactly the same as yours! I like to use more bacon.


Exactly!!!!

That's funny, because I use more Bacon than I put in this Step by Step.

However, since Mrs Bear doesn't want to use as much as I do, I cook extra Bacon & put it right on my salad, before pouring the dressing on.

Bear


smokingreg said:


> i love hot bacon dressing.


Thanks Greg!!

That's Great, It's interesting seeing what areas of the Country have seen or eaten this stuff, because it seems the heart of Hot Bacon Dressing country is SouthEast PA. (PA Dutch/German area)

Bear


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## ldrus

Back when I was  a kid  working in a restaurant we served this and  u just loved it, if u inhaled as u were taking a bite it would choke you up. But I rember it being a translucent dressing think this is the  same thing ?


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## Bearcarver

lkrus said:


> Back when I was a kid working in a restaurant we served this and u just loved it, if u inhaled as u were taking a bite it would choke you up. But I rember it being a translucent dressing think this is the same thing ?


I've had some in a restaurant that was almost transparent, and it tasted just about like mine. I believe the flour & egg is mostly to thicken it, so it doesn't just run through the salad & lay on the bottom of the bowl. The translucent stuff wasn't as thin as you would think, but I don't know why without flour.

As for the inhaling---You don't want to nuke it to a boil, and then inhale near it !!! It's the Vinegar.

Bear

Bear


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## ak1

Wow, this stuff is good!!!!!

I made a batch tonight. Thanks Bear.


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## Bearcarver

AK1 said:


> Wow, this stuff is good!!!!!
> 
> I made a batch tonight. Thanks Bear.


Thanks Darko!!

Glad you liked it !!

Betting you put extra Bacon in it, like I do?!?!

Bear


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## ak1

That's for sure! Thanks again John.


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## Bearcarver

Bumping this up by request:

Good Stuff.

Bear


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## tropics

Bear thanks that sounds good,I saved it

Richie


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## mosparky

Dang after yesterdays mention with dandelion greens, I had to do a google search for the dressing. What I came up with were all vinegarettes. They looked so good, but this looks even better !! Thanks Bear !!


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## Bearcarver

tropics said:


> Bear thanks that sounds good,I saved it
> 
> Richie


Let me know how you like it, when you get around to it---No hurry!

Bear


mosparky said:


> Dang after yesterdays mention with dandelion greens, I had to do a google search for the dressing. What I came up with were all vinegarettes. They looked so good, but this looks even better !! Thanks Bear !!


We use it on Lettuce & Tomato salads----Dandelion is just too Bitter for us. The Bacon Dressing helps, but the leaves are still too Bitter.

Enjoy,

Bear


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## mosparky

That does it !! I'm starting a binder with printed copies of recipes I find on here. Already got one for smoked meat specificaly, but there is so much more to be had here.


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## okie362

Going to have to try this when I get back home.  No kitchen in the hotel here in London.


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## BGKYSmoker

Oh yeah very good and looks great.

Ate lots of that when we lived in Lancaster County.


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## Bearcarver

mosparky said:


> That does it !! I'm starting a binder with printed copies of recipes I find on here. Already got one for smoked meat specificaly, but there is so much more to be had here.


Thanks for reminding me---I gotta update my Step by Step Index one of these days, too.

Bear


Okie362 said:


> Going to have to try this when I get back home.  No kitchen in the hotel here in London.


Thanks, You'll love it !!

Bear


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## gary s

Looks Great, have to try it   
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






Gary


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## Bearcarver

gary s said:


> Looks Great, have to try it
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> Gary


Thank You Gary!!

You'll love it, but I recommend doubling up on the Bacon pieces.

And Thanks for the Points!

Bear


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## herrjaeger

I live in Charleston SC, but originally hail from PA Dutch country, and was pleasantly surprised to run across this posting about hot bacon dressing, one of my favorite Dutch condiments.  We still use my grandmother's recipe , which is similar but with a small amount of grated onion and dry mustard added.  It's great with lettuce, but I especially love it over wilted dandelion greens' which I rarely get any more down South (too many chemicals used on lawns down here, which was not the case when I lived in PA).  We often had the dandelion greens and bacon dressing with homemade pot pie; certainly one of my fondest culinary memories growing up there.  I don't recall the dandelion greens being very bitter, and I don't think I would have eaten them as a youngster if they were bitter.  We always picked our own dandelion- it was easy to find the greens in the otherwise brown turf, and would cut them off using a paring knife.  Grnadma always told us to only pick the smaller plants/greens that hadn't yet developed any flower buds, as these wouldn't be bitter. Once the plant got larger or developed flower buds, they weren't edible any more.  I don't know if there is any validity to her admonition or whether it's just an old wives tale, as I've never tried harvesting or eating budding or large leafed dandelion, but with Spring coming, you might try it again with that in mind and pick the smaller, budless greens.  I'm getting ready to smoke some Canadian bacon on Tuesday using your recipe, and I appreciate the effort you've put forth in your recipes.  I'm looking forward to eating the bacon.  Thanks!


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## ab canuck

Looks and sounds great.... My son in law will love you...... Thx. For posting this Bear it is definitely saved and we are going to make this.....


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## Bearcarver

Herrjaeger said:


> I live in Charleston SC, but originally hail from PA Dutch country, and was pleasantly surprised to run across this posting about hot bacon dressing, one of my favorite Dutch condiments. We still use my grandmother's recipe , which is similar but with a small amount of grated onion and dry mustard added. It's great with lettuce, but I especially love it over wilted dandelion greens' which I rarely get any more down South (too many chemicals used on lawns down here, which was not the case when I lived in PA). We often had the dandelion greens and bacon dressing with homemade pot pie; certainly one of my fondest culinary memories growing up there. I don't recall the dandelion greens being very bitter, and I don't think I would have eaten them as a youngster if they were bitter. We always picked our own dandelion- it was easy to find the greens in the otherwise brown turf, and would cut them off using a paring knife. Grnadma always told us to only pick the smaller plants/greens that hadn't yet developed any flower buds, as these wouldn't be bitter. Once the plant got larger or developed flower buds, they weren't edible any more. I don't know if there is any validity to her admonition or whether it's just an old wives tale, as I've never tried harvesting or eating budding or large leafed dandelion, but with Spring coming, you might try it again with that in mind and pick the smaller, budless greens. I'm getting ready to smoke some Canadian bacon on Tuesday using your recipe, and I appreciate the effort you've put forth in your recipes. I'm looking forward to eating the bacon. Thanks!


Yes---Your Grammy was right. The young ones are more Tender & less Bitter. It's the white liquid inside that is bitter.

All we eat is Lettuce & Tomato, because Mrs Bear still doesn't like Dandelion & Endive greens. 

Now that I have someone on here that knows PA Dutchmen, I got a good one for you.

After all the Ethnic jokes over the years, Italian, Pollock, etc, I only ever heard one PA Dutch Joke, and I think it's real funny if you know what PA Dutch people are like.

Here it is:

A Buddy of mine told me they were going to get rid of All the PA Dutch people in our area.

I asked him "How are they going to do that?"

He said, "They're going to plant a Dandelion in the middle of the Pennsylvania TurnPike".

BTW: I'm glad you like my "Step by Steps" and my "Step by Step Index".

Bear


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## herrjaeger

i " enchoyed" that!  Really an inside joke of sorts, with typical dry PA Dutch humor.  I don't know if you've ever heard any of the Professor Schnitzel bits back in the 1950's-60's, but my grandparents loved listening to him on the radio, at the Kutztown Folk Festival, and I think they must have had records of his.  He was a PA Dutch standup comedian, if you can believe there ever was such a thing, and that joke sounds like something he'd come up with.


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## Bearcarver

Herrjaeger said:


> i " enchoyed" that! Really an inside joke of sorts, with typical dry PA Dutch humor. I don't know if you've ever heard any of the Professor Schnitzel bits back in the 1950's-60's, but my grandparents loved listening to him on the radio, at the Kutztown Folk Festival, and I think they must have had records of his. He was a PA Dutch standup comedian, if you can believe there ever was such a thing, and that joke sounds like something he'd come up with.


Yup---My Parents used to listen to Prof' Schnitzel too, and we used to get to the Kutztown Festival every year. Kutztown is only about 1/2 hour from here.

I only know a few Dutch words, but my Grandparents spoke Dutch a lot, and my Dad could speak it good enough to go to "Grundsow" meetings, where they weren't allowed to speak anything but PA Dutch. And Mrs Bear's Dad used to teach PA Dutch in Night School at Quakertown High School.

Later,

Bear


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## Bearcarver

AB Canuck said:


> Looks and sounds great.... My son in law will love you...... Thx. For posting this Bear it is definitely saved and we are going to make this.....


Thank You AB !!!

You'll love it too.

And Thanks for the Points!

Bear


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## geezer

Nice

My folks used to make wilted lettuce with hot bacon dressing several times each summer as we picked greens from the garden.

Slightly different than this recipe tho as it had no egg in it.


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## GaryHibbert

Hey John.  I just found this thanks to Gary's new post.  

This looks absolutely delicious.  I'll be trying it very soon.

Thank you!!

POINTS

Gary


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## Bearcarver

GaryHibbert said:


> Hey John. I just found this thanks to Gary's new post.
> 
> This looks absolutely delicious. I'll be trying it very soon.
> 
> Thank you!!
> 
> POINTS
> 
> Gary


Thank You Gary!!

You'll love it---My Brother, Sisters, and I were Practically weaned on this Hot Bacon Dressing.

Then I married Mrs Bear in 1968, and it turns out her Mother used the exact same Recipe!!!

And Thanks for the Points.

Bear


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## shyzabrau

Despite the fact that my parents grew up just twenty miles from where you live, I have zero connection to my PA Dutch heretige. My mother's mother didn't cook well at all and my mother never learned to cook. My parents left PA shortly after I was born, so I never encountered much PA Dutch food other than soft pretzels, shoo fly pie, and scrapple. 

I willl make this recipe tomorrow while I'm doing my test cooks for Mothers Day.


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## Bearcarver

Shyzabrau said:


> Despite the fact that my parents grew up just twenty miles from where you live, I have zero connection to my PA Dutch heretige. My mother's mother didn't cook well at all and my mother never learned to cook. My parents left PA shortly after I was born, so I never encountered much PA Dutch food other than soft pretzels, shoo fly pie, and scrapple.
> 
> I willl make this recipe tomorrow while I'm doing my test cooks for Mothers Day.


LOL---My Mother wasn't much of a Cook either, but my Grandmother on my Dad's side was a Great Cook!! Her maiden name was Ziegenfuss.(Doesn't get more Dutch than that)

As for the PA Dutch part, Both my Dad and my Grandpop were members of the "Grundsow" lodge, and my FIL used to teach Pennsylvania Dutch in Night School at Quakertown High School, and was also a Grundsow member.

Bear


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## DanMcG

Can't believe I never saw this thread, thanks for posting it John.


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## Bearcarver

DanMcG said:


> Can't believe I never saw this thread, thanks for posting it John.


Thanks Dan!

Glad you like it.

Bear


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## mosparky

Ok, I finally tried it. I tasted it hot and thought eehhh...so-so. Wife finally got home from work and we had dinner. Dressing was still a little  more than room temp, not bad but I'm thinking I'm not going thru all that for just not bad. Then today I try it again, This time cold from the fridge. Call me weird, but I like it best from the fridge and heck yeah I'll do it again.

 I hate to do it, but I.m gonna have to know. Got an urge to dress it up. I know it will morph into something else entirely but I gotta know where this can go. I'm thinking just a little minced bell pepper, maybe some grated onion and a smidge of crushed red pepper flake.

 Yeah, sometimes I just don't know when to leave well enough alone.

BTW, I used 8 strips of store bought bacon. Awesome !!


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## Bearcarver

mosparky said:


> Ok, I finally tried it. I tasted it hot and thought eehhh...so-so. Wife finally got home from work and we had dinner. Dressing was still a little  more than room temp, not bad but I'm thinking I'm not going thru all that for just not bad. Then today I try it again, This time cold from the fridge. Call me weird, but I like it best from the fridge and heck yeah I'll do it again.
> 
> I hate to do it, but I.m gonna have to know. Got an urge to dress it up. I know it will morph into something else entirely but I gotta know where this can go. I'm thinking just a little minced bell pepper, maybe some grated onion and a smidge of crushed red pepper flake.
> 
> Yeah, sometimes I just don't know when to leave well enough alone.
> 
> BTW, I used 8 strips of store bought bacon. Awesome !!


That really is weird !!

I don't like it at all cold, and the Hotter the Better.

As for adding other things to it, I'm not one that would do that kind of thing to most things, but I'm sure many would like that.

The big thing is ---The more Bacon the Better it is, like with most things.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Thanks for your comments!

Bear


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## Bearcarver

jcam222
 ---Thank You for the Like.

Bear


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## zwiller

BOOKMARKED.  NEver saw this before. I grew up on something like this but parents made it each meal instead of a batch like this.  That is friggin genius!  I think my parents used some onion in theirs and used chicken stock instead of water but otherwise the same.  Yep, known as "wilted salad" here too.  99% of the time they used spinach and would add some chopped hard boiled egg.  Not a huge egg on salad guy but it ROCKED on this.  Ate it once a week when I lived at home.  Thanks for sharing!


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## chopsaw

zwiller said:


> Yep, known as "wilted salad" here too.


My Mom made something for my Dad they called " wilted lettuce " 
I think it was bacon , vinegar and lettuce wilted down in that . Maybe sliced hard boiled eggs at the end . They added some sugar to it too .


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## clifish

Never saw this thread before,  might have to try it.  I know when my mother made goulash I would pour that hot over the salad and it was good.  We are German,  not penn dutch but Bear my mothers given name is Maxamillianna Schlosser,  she changed it to Lillian after HS...lol


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## zwiller

chopsaw said:


> My Mom made something for my Dad they called " wilted lettuce "



My parents are bat s*** for it.  I think if give my parents this recipe they will eat it every day!   



clifish said:


> Never saw this thread before,  might have to try it.  I know when my mother made goulash I would pour that hot over the salad and it was good.  We are German,  not penn dutch but Bear my mothers given name is Maxamillianna Schlosser,  she changed it to Lillian after HS...lol


Interesting!  Whenever we ate goulash we ALWAYS had salad with celery seed dressing, ALWAYS.  Our school serves it that way too.  Something going on there...


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## clifish

zwiller said:


> My parents are bat s*** for it.  I think if give my parents this recipe they will eat it every day!
> 
> 
> Interesting!  Whenever we ate goulash we ALWAYS had salad with celery seed dressing, ALWAYS.  Our school serves it that way too.  Something going on there...


Usually my mom makes a vinegar type dressing kind of like what she uses when she makes German potato salad.   The first time I ever ate American potato salad was after I got married.


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## zwiller

Oh man, LOVE german potato salad.  My family never made it.  Agree, the sauce is about the same as here.  I have a number of cookbooks with it and tried it but was not happy.  Best I've had was a friends and she has promised me the recipe but always fails to deliver the goods (and she knows it) LOL.


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## bill ace 350

My mom used almost the exact recipe!

My dad loved endive mixed in mashed potatoes with this dressing sprinkled on top.


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## Bearcarver

bill ace 350 said:


> My mom used almost the exact recipe!
> 
> My dad loved endive mixed in mashed potatoes with this dressing sprinkled on top.



LOL---There are a lot of things I didn't like when I was a Kid, but then enjoyed them later in life. Endive is not one of them----My Parents & Grandparents claimed they liked Endive, but to me it was much too Bitter.
The last time I tried it, I was an Adult, and it was still too Bitter for Me!!

Bear


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## clifish

Got to have mom's goulash yesterday here in PA and put it on the salad instead of pasta...yum


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## Bearcarver

clifish said:


> Got to have mom's goulash yesterday here in PA and put it on the salad instead of pasta...yum
> View attachment 649193



My best Buddy's (Hunky-Jack) Mom used to make great Goulash.
My Mom wasn't much of a cook, but she made sure we wore our "Goulashes" when we walked to school in the rain.

Bear


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