We Like Making Our Own Stuff

Lard (fat from a pig) has been used for thousands of years as a culinary ingredient.  Indeed, the fat from any animal was considered just as important as the meat (as well as the organs).  During the early 20th century, something changed in the United States however; delicious lard, along with other saturated fats, were labeled as being "bad for you."  Things like shortening and margarine became the new healthy fats of choice.

My interest in roses, and maybe medicinal herbs in general, probably got started way back in my middle school years (this may sound unrelated to roses, but bear with me).  I did a report on the famous scientist and supposed predictor of the future, Nostradamus. You may have heard of Nostradamus, and his famous book Les Propheties , which supposedly predicted future events. Why am I rambling on about Nostradamus? Because whether or not he predicted the future, he did indeed create something called a "rose pill," which was a lozenge he made using rose hips. These rose pills were used during the time of the plague , and helped many people, probably due to the high vitamin C content. I remember learning this as a kid, and finding it fascinating that something so simple as a rose plant could heal a case of the plague! Many years have passed since that middle school report, but still, I like to experiment with plants and herbs. We moved a couple years ago to a

I am in love with another old cookbook (I think this is #2,759). This one is called Farm Journal's Country Cookbook , and I found it at a garage sale buried in a box of old books.  It was marked for $2.00; normally, that would be too expensive for a used book, because I'm such a cheapskate.  But, it's not just an old book.  It's an old COOKBOOK .  The cookbook itself was published in the 1950s, but all the recipes in it came from Farm Journal Magazine editors and readers, which has been around since the 1800's. The recipes in this cookbook come from a time when most food was still "real," and things like butter, cream , and egg yolks were considered nutritious.  Personally, I fell off the "low-fat" bandwagon some years ago, and I fell hard.  I now eat all kinds of butter and cream (plus lard, tallow, avacados, and coconut oil), and of course, plenty of eggs, since our pretty hens share with us.