FOOD FOR A BARN RAISING 
This bit of information was found in a quaint, old handwritten recipe book from Great-grandmother's day. It is included here mainly for the purpose of giving us a peep into the past. As many of us know, a "barn raising" was quite an event during those early years. When a new barn was built, all the friends and neighbors came on the specified day to help put up the framework of the barn. This policy is still carried out in some communities where neighbors are neighborly. Homemakers of our day will no doubt be astounded at all the food consumed in one day. What is more difficult to believe is that it was all made in Great-grandmother's kitchen.

Here is the list as I found it:

115 lemon pies
500 fat cakes (doughnuts)
15 lg. cakes
3 gallons applesauce
3 gallons rice pudding
3 gallons cornstarch pudding
16 chickens
3 hams
50 lb. roast beef
300 light rolls
16 loaves bread
Red beet pickle and pickled eggs
Cucumber pickle
6 lb. dried prunes, stewed
1 lg. crock stewed raisins
5 gallon stone jar white potatoes and the same amount of sweet potatoes

Enough food for 175 men.

recipe reviews
Food for a Barn Raising
 #28729
 Mariah (Washington) says:
Wow! Thanks for putting this up. Very interesting. She must have been working for a week to get everything ready.
 #39784
 Indnjans (Tennessee) says:
Wow. Well, Great-grandma sure wasn't doing it by herself. It may feed 175 men, but it took 180 women to fix! lol
Seriously, my mom and I are sitting here thinking about the logistics of this. Obviously, all the wives of all the barn-raising men are bringing food or in the kitchen day-of, but how?? Where does one put 115 lemon pies? You'd have a spring house, but no refrigeration, so are the 16 chickens killed and plucked that day? Shew! Thanks for this insight. I'd almost like to host a party just to take on the challenge of fixing this meal. Almost.
 #101746
 Owltree (Florida) says:
This makes me tired just reading it! It reminds me of the scene in one of my favorite movies, "Witness" with Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis. All the families come together for a barn raising in an Amish community and a *HUGE* feast at lunch is prepared by the women for the men. Great movie, wonderful scene.

 

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