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Cookbook Countdown Day 2: Cooking with lard

The name of this cookbook says it all. Yes, it is all about cooking with lard, or “The lost art of cooking with your grandmother’s secret ingredient.” My grandmother used lard sometimes and her food sure was good.

The word “lard” may not sound appetizing to some folks, but the recipes in this book will make your mouth water. They include Country Fried Chicken, Hamburger in Cheese Popovers, British Pasties, Beef Wellington, Butterscotch Rolls and Southern Gingerbread with Apricot Cream Filling.

This cookbook was compiled by the editors of GRIT magazine, and as an added bonus it includes a certificate for a free subscription to the magazine!

If you are interested in winning this cookbook, please leave a comment on this blog entry. I’m going to include a “For Dummies” apron. I will announce the winner on New Year’s Eve.

Oh, and by the way … MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Join the conversation [ADD A COMMENT]

37 COMMENTS

  1. paul h | December 25, 2012 at 7:21 am

    grit mag/newspaper and lard …calling dr. kildare

  2. Mary | December 25, 2012 at 7:55 am

    When I was growing up, my mom always used lard. I can’t remember her buying shortening until I was about grown.

  3. Kristen | December 25, 2012 at 11:01 am

    I have a few pounds of lard in my basement I rendered from some pork last year, and I have NO IDEA what to do with it besides pie crust. This book would be very helpful.

  4. Don Sumner | December 25, 2012 at 11:04 am

    I’ve used lard to season many Cast Iron skillets but never cooked much with it. Sounds like a very interesting cookbook.

  5. Amy | December 25, 2012 at 12:41 pm

    I make tamales with lard…like to find out what else I can make with it too.

    Merry Christmas!!

  6. Liz | December 25, 2012 at 1:08 pm

    I would really love this cookbook. Maybe I could then make stuff like Grandma did. and the apron is a plus.

  7. Dallen Delk | December 25, 2012 at 2:49 pm

    We love 3 tastes, fat, salt and sugar. When we Americans quit eating food cooked with lard, the food industry responded by adding salt, sugar, HFCS and other unnecessary additives to our food to increase their sales.

  8. KevinL | December 25, 2012 at 4:37 pm

    I’d like to win this one for my mom, who’s an avid cookbook person. A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!

  9. Krissy | December 25, 2012 at 6:41 pm

    my grandma used lard in many meals i can remember, but specifically beef wellington, as mentioned. I’ve seen my mother do it a few times…but myself, never. Maybe with this cookbook :)

  10. darlene napier | December 25, 2012 at 6:44 pm

    Great addition to my 400 plus cookbooks

  11. Sandi Gibson | December 25, 2012 at 6:49 pm

    My mother’s pie crust is the flakiest, most delicious crust. It’s her mother’s recipe and I’ve tried using everything else, but it’s just not the same without lard!

  12. Lorrie Graybeal | December 25, 2012 at 7:08 pm

    Always looking for new and delicious recipes!! Would love to win!

  13. kathy | December 25, 2012 at 7:53 pm

    I have never cooked with lard but will have some after we butcher our pigs. I would love to know how to cook with it.

  14. mountaintruck1 | December 25, 2012 at 8:06 pm

    When I was a child, my Mother used to buy a birthday cake from Williams Bakery in Richmond. Later, as an adult, I went to Williams and purchased one of these cakes. When served, the taste was very different. So, I returned to the bakery and inquired about this difference. The lady smiled and said it was the “Lard.” She said that the pound cake base was made with Lard and had the wonderful rich taste. Ah, for the sake of our health, delicious birthday cake was changed forever to just cake. The memories of this wonderful tasting cake live on!

  15. Lorri Atwell | December 25, 2012 at 8:26 pm

    I would love to win this cookbook! My grandmother cook with lard all the time and her cooking was awesome. She died when I was in 8th grade, so I didn’t get to learn her secrets and recipes. Would love to learn them now!

  16. Delores McCoy | December 25, 2012 at 8:54 pm

    Sounds like a fascinating cookbook. Would sure love to own a copy. Pick me!

  17. Jen | December 25, 2012 at 9:18 pm

    Lard isn’t that appetizing, but I bet it would make an interesting read. Merry Christmas!

  18. Taylor | December 25, 2012 at 9:45 pm

    Plenty of yummy recipes in this cookbook I’m sure!!

  19. Becky | December 25, 2012 at 9:56 pm

    Both of my grandmas and my mom cooked with lard. I was privileged to experience their fine cooking.

  20. Susan Culbertson | December 25, 2012 at 11:48 pm

    Wow! Two articles about lard in just over a week! Check out this article from the Today Show website that recommends “pastured” lard in place of vegetable shortening:

    http://todayhealth.today.com/_news/2012/12/07/15757162-10-foods-that-can-wreck-your-mood?lite

  21. Robert Stutes | December 25, 2012 at 11:54 pm

    Somewhere along the line, lard got a bad reputation (and the Crisco conspiracy theory may have something to do with it).

    Looking forward to getting back in the Lard Groove thanks to this book!

  22. Susan Culbertson | December 25, 2012 at 11:59 pm

    (…and who knew there was still a Grit Magazine??!!)

  23. Jason | December 26, 2012 at 7:29 am

    Is there any other way to cook Southern without lard? I’m sure this book is one to keep in the kitchen!

  24. vickie c | December 26, 2012 at 8:46 am

    I was just having a conversation with my mother when I visited her about lard. she said that its getting hard to find in her area and since I will be back in Feb, I am taking some to her. Lard gets a bad rap as a cooking agent but, it makes the most unbelievable pie crust known and its the only way I have figured out how to make half way decent fried chicken. I still have some of my great grandmas cook books from lard distrubutors in the 30s that she got from green stamps

  25. Alison Reilly | December 26, 2012 at 9:07 am

    On Christmas morning during our big family breakfast we talked about how much we missed my grandmother’s biscuits. They were so light a fluffy, and she always cut them out small – they were cute! We all know the secret was the amount of Crisco she used, but they were so delicious. While I don’t use lard everyday, I do still believe it is a pantry staple. My best and most popular recipes being with sauteing onions & celery in lard, or mixing it into baked goods. I would love to learn to use it in other things! Pick Me for this cookbook!! :-)

  26. vickie c | December 26, 2012 at 12:25 pm

    I saw this on my twitter feed yesterday and just had a coversation with my mother about lard last week. Its perfect for the best pie crust and molasses cookies as well as for fried chicken and other deep fried goodness. I even have some of my great grandmothers old lard cookbooks from the 30s. (I thought I had already commented on this, but i guess not, as my post did not show).

  27. Becky | December 26, 2012 at 1:17 pm

    sounds interesting

  28. david | December 26, 2012 at 2:49 pm

    Bet today’s lard is not as good as lard was in her time. My Nanny made her own lard, whereas today’s store bought would not be as fresh and probably has other additives in it.

  29. Sharon | December 26, 2012 at 3:05 pm

    I would love to have this cookbook, however the apron may be more “fitting” for the way I cook!

  30. Sharon McClatchey | December 26, 2012 at 3:26 pm

    My Mother always used lard for frying her chicken for Sunday dinners – I still use it to make a special birthday cake I had when I was first married, a recipe my Aunt shared with me. Hope the book is available at the bookstore in Muskogee in case I don’t win your copy. Thank you so much.

  31. ginny | December 27, 2012 at 8:28 am

    i’ve never used lard, but i’m willing to give it a try!

  32. Rocket | December 27, 2012 at 3:52 pm

    Scares me!

  33. Rena | December 27, 2012 at 8:17 pm

    I’d love this cookbook so I can cook more often at home!

  34. Susan Walker | December 28, 2012 at 11:49 am

    I would love this cookbook. My grandmother always cooked with lard and I have not had fried chicken like hers in over 30 years.

  35. patricia | December 28, 2012 at 5:35 pm

    Sounds worth trying. Especially since I think I can find local lard.

  36. RM | December 29, 2012 at 9:31 am

    This is different. If I win this book I hope my cardiologist doesn’t find out.

  37. Janet | December 31, 2012 at 8:23 am

    This certainly brings back memories of my childhood and my mother getting the Grit in the mail. Also love that it is a collection of the old time recipes that need to be preserved for future generations to appreciate their culture and hertitage.

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About this blog

On the Fridge Magnet blog, food writer Lindsey Nair writes about home cooking, local restaurants, entertaining and more. Here, you will also find links to restaurant reviews and our weekly food column, Front Burner. Please also check out our database of Southwest Virginia restaurants resturant user reviews and our recipe database.

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