In addition to old cookbooks, my mother recently came across her grandfather’s World War I diary, from 1917 to 1919.
I never met my great grandfather and quite enjoyed this rare connection to the past. He didn’t relay much personal sentiment in his journal; most of it is a simple chronicle of events, often a sentence or two, and he wasn’t wildly consistent. There is no reference to the horror of war. It makes me wonder if the gaps in time were spent in trenches, and if he didn’t mention it because he wanted his thoughts elsewhere when recording them.
When he isn’t talking about the death of Teddy Roosevelt, or how five men were swept overboard and lost from the U.S.S.G.W., he frequently talked about food. Quite often, in fact. There truly is nothing like a great, warm meal.
Subsistence: Bacon, Beans, Beans Baked, Bread, Coffee, Flour, Fruit, Lard, Meat – Fresh Beef, Milk, Onions, Potatoes, Salt, Sugar, Vinegar, Tomatoes, Pepper
On foregoing page 16 is giving list of subsistence of the main food stuffs as used in the Army. To follow this list closely is not only a good principle for the army but also for the home. To buy staples, especially flour, dry groceries, potatoes, etc in quantity is a big money saving proposition, also a time saver as it does away with ? daily shopping trip which time could be used by better advantage. It is also a good idea to follow the army’s way of planning supplies and meals four or five days or more ahead, will save a lot of worry.
December 25, 1917
Saw <> steamer towed in torpedoed, bow sunk, stern in air. Christmas dinner. Menu on board U.S.S.G.W.
Steak – Ham – Onion Sauce
Mashed potatoes – Peas – Bread – Butter
Coffee – <?> and Pumpkin Pie
Jan 1 1918 (in France)
Had dinner in a restaurant. Menu. Ham omelett, bread, butter, leg of chicken, French fried potatoes, coffee, rice pudding.
