Ah, for the love of Lard

EssBee and I spent this past Saturday with my mom and her parents rural, eastern Colorado. Sure, their well wasn't working so there was no water until early afternoon, but there was so much to make up for it: my Auntie from Mississippi blasting in the house and exclaiming, "I have mustard in my Coochie!", hearing stories about my family way back when, getting a bit of mama time in, and most of all the FOOD!

Grandma has a tin canister right by the stove where she pours the bacon grease after making bacon. It is the only things she uses for frying and recipes that need some kind of fat. Lunch was a big pot of Posole (a type of soup with hominy, pork, onions, and red chile). My mom made it for us (cuz it's one of our favorite dishes and EssBee and I are spoiled, stinky-rotten by our families). Grandma could not believe that a person could eat just a bowl of soup, so she fried up some potatoes. RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE!! I've fried many potatoes in my life, but they never taste like hers. Why? Bacon lard. Dinner was fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and "peas, onions, and gravy". The potatoes had a full stick of real butter. The chicken was breaded and fried - in bacon grease! The peas were a new thing for me. Grandma made gravy with bacon grease and flour and onions and then poured a couple cans of peas in it. It was all absolutely amazing. I didn't even mention the pies (yes, plural pie). Pumpkin, and another new taste experience for me - prune pie! Needless to say, we ate our week's worth of Points in a 6-hour period. Know what, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Has anyone truly researched the sin of bacon grease? I mean, my grandma's mom lived to 96 and her grandma to 99.

Meanwhile, we're back to salads and high-fiber cereal and dreaming of our next visit to Grandma's. You've never tasted tortillas until you've tasted them made with bacon lard.