Will have to think on this one a bit. Do you realize how incredibly UN-PC that recipe is with LARD?!? I love it!!

I might use butter if I did not have lard. I have not made any in years. I might have to bake some soon.

Sue

THOSE were my favorite thing in the school lunch program...and my sister worked as a school lunch helper while she was in HS and many years after. It was her favorite cookie too. BTW, My Dad was the pie baker in our family and made the absolute best pie pastry EVER....he used lard. Oh, Donuts too! I have tried using lard...somehow lard isn't the same as it was in yesteryear. He used to make a big batch of pastry and keep it in the fridge and could whip up a pie in the blink of an eye....to die for. Sadly, he has been gone for 30+ years and never passed on is skill to me.

Thanks for the recipe....I would love to try it, for old times sake, but I rarely am able to cook....and doubt that I would use lard, and would have to think about substitutes. I have many recipes that use Crisco....and sometimes butter makes them 'greasy' so that does create a dilemma, doesn't it.

I bake a lot and some things need trans fats to come out right. Older recipes calling for shortening (Crisco Fluffo hi-ratio) no longer come out the same. Butter doesn't always make a good substitute for achieving the right texture,height etc. I'm looking to find an option to hydrogenated fats to add stability to baked goods. Going to give lard a try. I understand a type called Leaf lard is less "porky" in flavor. It's difficult to find however so it may mean having to render your own.

I don't think the issue some people (myself included) have with lard is that it's not PC. Rather, it's saturated fat and, as mentioned, contains transfats. These are both extremely unhealthy to consume and are ingredients many wish to avoid.

These items directly contribute to cardiovascular disease, a leading cause of death.

Whatever doesn't "come out right" in the absence of these ingredients, or whatever commercial products contain transfats, are things I really don't want to eat. A lot of people feel that way too.

Those of you who don't care to read labels for what you buy or don't care about the health problems these things cause are welcome to do as you wish. Please don't deny the negative health consequences that have been conclusively proven or make light of others who care about such things.

Here's an interesting site re: lard.

It really isn't as unhealthy as one would assume. Remember, our grandparents made their own or at least used lard regularly. I've seen more than one article extolling the virtues and benefits of lard.

Lard: A good thing

Well, one aspect that wouldn't be allowed in a lot of schools today is the peanuts! At least in our District, all food served is peanut and tree-nut free, and kids are not allowed to bring in peanut and tree-nut snacks...they can do so for lunch, though. (I do love a good peanut butter cookie, though!).

jasdip, past generations ate what was available and also died younger. They didn't have the information or choices available to us today.

Some people try to eat as healthily as possible and others don't. It's a personal choice but making light of either side by the other doesn't add to a conversation. (not referring to you, jasdip)

Be careful with what you find from internet searches - the person whose site the lard article is on doesn't appear to have a bona fide credential. But she does have lots of unsupported opinions and links to many products of her own and others for sale. For products of others, I promise you she gets a commission for such link-driven referrals. It's the clandestine business model so popular on the internet - appear to be doing one thing when you're actually doing something else

Sue I would love some more old time recipes. My grandfather made wonderful butter cookies with red plum jam from plums he grew. I can make the cookies but it has been so long since I've written down a recipe for them that I'll have to actually make them and write down the quantities of the various ingredients, one of these days.

My maternal grandmother was a wonderful cook. She was known for her special cookies, and the recipe included lard. It made a lot of soft, brown sugar flavored cookies that were decorated with raisins, sugar, or red hots.

I will find my home ec teachers recipe for sand tart cookies. It was the first thing she taught us in class. They are so good. I have not made them in years. The recipe is in my hometown church cookbook as Mrs. B's Sand tarts every one knew those cookies lol.

We always had bannock when I was younger. With margarine and jam.

4 c flour, 1/2 c lard, 4 tsp baking powder, 1 1/2 c cool water, pinch salt.

Mix together and flatten on large sheet. Bake at 450 20-25 min.

Personally, I fear more the refined products such as flours and sugar over lard.

This is a recipe that we girls in Home Ec. made when I went to school I graduated in 1953 so this recipe is pretty old.

Fudge

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 T. cocoa powder

2 t. corn syrup

Few Grains of salt

1 T. butter

1/2 t. flour

1/2 t, vanilla

1/4 cup nuts

Mix all ingredients except the butter, vanilla and nuts. Stir frequently until sugar dissolves. Cook to soft ball stage. Remove from heat and cool. Then add the butter, vanilla and nuts. Beat until creamy and has lost it's gloss. Pour quickly into oiled plate. Cut into squares. If you want peanut butter fudge add 2 T. of peanut butter.

Sue

At certain times in Home Ec. we could fix food and invite a favorite teacher to eat with us. This time it was to be the Grape and Pear salad. Well, our teacher forgot to get the cream cheese out of the refrigerator in time to get softened so you can imagine the mess trying to spread it over that pear half.

Grape and Pear Salad from the early '50's.

4 leaves of lettuce

4 canned pear halves

3 oz. package of cream cheese

1/4 cup of cream

1 pound of white seedless grapes

Whipped Cream

Place a lettuce leaf on four salad plates, place a pear half flat side down on each leaf of lettuce. Mix well the softened cream cheese and the cream and spread liberally over the pears. Cut the grapes in half an place them all over the cream cheese covered pear half. with the flat side of the grape down, making it look like a bunch of grapes. Place a piece of grape stem on the large end of the pear. Serve with whipped cream on top. Serves 4.

Lets have some more old time recipes to share.

Sue

Hi Marilyn Sue,

And they didn't have a microwave to offer a quick softening of the cream cheese.

Thanks for the recipes ... I love peanut butter cookies ... and fudge.

ole joyfuelled .. with a bit o' fuelling help from such decadent stuff, on occasion

One of my husband's favorites is the recipe I use for coleslaw which was made by my mother (and I believe her mother as well).

I the preshredded bags with carrots and red cabbage, add Best Foods or Hellman's mayo (depending on where you live). I don't have a measurement, I just mix in enough to get the consistency we like. Then I add a 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, a swig of vinegar and celery seed to taste. Mix it up good and if possible, let sit in the fridge over night.

If I could find the copies of my mother's recipes there's bound to be some things in there to share. However, her PB cookie recipe is still a favorite of many.

Cynic's Mother's Peanut Butter Cookies

1 C Brown Sugar

1 C White Sugar

1 C Peanut Butter

1 C Shortening

2 Eggs

3 C Flour

2 tsp Soda

(The recipe doesn't show it, but she usually added some vanilla to it too.) I've found that 2.5 C flour worked better for me but that's a variable.

Mix like cake. Roll in small balls and press down with fork dipped in flour. Bake in 350° oven until done.

These are crumbly cookies and great for dunkers. And this is an OLD recipe. My mother got it from somewhere else, she didn't develop it but she never claimed it as "hers" either. I get such a laugh when I see the 4timeFelon, the Belle of the Bigots and others claiming it as their recipe. Just shows their integrity. And yes some will be turned off by the shortening and I say then go buy Oreos! These are not the same if you substitute fats, but that doesn't mean they're going to be bad, just not the same. It's a forgiving recipe, versitile and when the kids were around the cookie dough was a treat in itself. And yes, with egg in it!

Cynic. your Mother's recipe is just like the one I have used for sixty plus years except mine has a teaspoon of vanilla in it. Mine came out of a Betty Furness Westinghouse cookbook,which I just looked at to compare, that was given to us when we bought some furniture from a furniture store in 1954. I like those really well. We were married in Dec. of 1953.

Sue

We also made parfait pies in home ec. We also made other flavors besides peach. Peach is good. Do you remember those?

Peach Parfait Pie From Walnut Grove

3 1/2 c. sliced peaches, sweetened, or 1 No. 2 1/2 can
1 three ounce package lemon or orange flavored
Jell-O
1/2 c. cold water
1 pint vanilla ice cream
1 baked 9-inch pie shell
1/2 c. whipping cream, whipped


If using fresh peaches, let stand about 15 minutes after
mixing with sugar. Drain peaches (fresh or canned),
reserving syrup.

Add water to syrup to make 1 cup; heat to boiling. Add
Jell-O, stir till dissolved. Add cold water. Cut ice cream
in 6 pieces; add to hot liquid. Stir until melted. Chill
till mixture mounds slightly when dropped from a spoon (15
to 20 minutes). Fold in peaches. Pour into cooled pastry
shell.

Chill till firm. 45 minutes (filling will resemble cream
pie) to several hours (filling will be firmer). Top with
cream, and decorate with peach slices.

Sue

http://hubpages.com/food/Old-Timey-Sweet-Recipes-from-the-Past

I liked the Broken Glass Jello dessert, which looks like broken stained glass. The way I have had it is without the graham cracker crust, which I think I prefer.

BROKEN GLASS DESSERT

1 package (3 oz) each of Jello Orange, Cherry, and Lime Gelatins.

3 C boiling water

2 C cold water

1 C pineapple juice

1/4 c sugar

1 package (3 oz) Lemon Jello.

1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs

1/3 C melted butter

2 envelopes Dream Whip or 2 C whipping cream

Prepare the 3 flavors of Jello separately, using 1 c boiling water and 1/2 c cold water for each. Pour each flavor into an 8 inch square pan. Chill till firm or overnight. Then mix pineapple juice and sugar. Heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and dissolve lemon Jello in the hot juice. Then add 1/2 c cold water. Chill until slightly thickened. Meanwhile, mix crumbs and butter; press into bottom of 9 inch spring form pan and up sides of pan if desired. Cut the firm Jello into 1/2 inch cubes. Then prepare the dessert topping mix as directed on package or whip the cream; blend in with the lemon Jello. Fold in Jello cubes. Pour into the pan. Chill at least 5 hours or overnight. 16 servings.