Crisco is hydrogenated palm oil, not lard. ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, February 13, 2000 2:50 PM Subject: Re: [TNWASHIN] Molasses (Lard, buttermilk) > In a message dated 2/13/00 2:51:18 PM EST, [email protected] writes: > > << > Your Mom has that right about the pie crust made with lard - it is the very > best and crunchie. > > Jan >> > > Hello Everyone, > > I have very much enjoyed all of the food preparation posts (although to our > storyteller G. Lee Hearl...well...I think you need to give me the email > address of one of your cousins to verify that your most entertaining > molasses/popcorn story isn't from your repertoire <grin>) > > At the moment I am confused between which posts are on this list and which > are on the ETN (Eastern Tennessee) list, where we have been discussing, in > the exact same vein, the making of and traditions surrounding "souse", > headcheese, etc. with many contributors and stories, etc. In fact, I was > just looking at subject lines and thought they were all on the same list. > > With respect to lard, my mother always used/uses Crisco (in the can, white > shortening), in baking,including chocolate chip cookies, etc. She was born > and raised in SW MO..the OZARKS. Once she came to my house inVA and made an > extra trip to the grocery when all I had was margarine in the house. I had > quite frankly forgotten about Crisco even because in the last years of my > schooling, she taught school, did avariety of other activities and rarely > cooked from scratch. When she came I was reminded and now I certainly use it > for all pie crusts, tartlets, many of the dryer cookies (ie, some shortbread > types) etc. as well. Friends my age (ie, 50) who are from the Northeast come > and ask me what the white Crisco can contains sometimes if they see me use > it. That doesn't seem to happen from anyone from the south or midwest (I > live in Alexandria VA...a nice southern town infiltrated by government > employees!!) > > You definitely can still find lard at larger stores, and many ethnic stores, > especially hispanic. It is the ONLY thing to make really, really good > refried (black) beans with. And since you are probably going to use fat > anyway...why not!! (I also have a perfectly fine way to make refried beans > with out any fat that I use when I am on my best nutritional behavior). > > And re buttermilk (and I don't know if it was this list or ETN), but some > were talking about how buttermilk also is about as familiar to most of us > as...well hard tack (what is hard tackanyway?..a cracker?). My father (the > aerospace engineer) who grewup in SW MO, but unlike my mother, was one > generation away from a farm, loved buttermilk. He had a whole buttermilk, > bread, sardine, fruit (figs in season) ritual for his Saturday lunch that we > three kids all literally gagged at...one of our beloved family stories. > > FYI, I grew up in Long Beach CA amongst many midwest transplants. The lady > who took care of me after school received all of my mother's fat drippings > (saved in the empty Crisco can). In 1959, she made hand made soap out of > them in suburban Long Beach!! > > Thanks for all of the information...I also have Foxfire books..if this was > the list they were mentioned. At one period, definitely before kids, I > dreamed of the simple life on the farm....until a Washington Post writer, who > had done it for three years on a hill in New Hampshire, pointed out why the > simple life was a condominium involving no ground care very close to one's > place of employment, that did not require either machine maintenance skills > or god-given rain to ensure an income. > > Janet Hunter >