I'm not so sure about the examples she cites being Depression food. My parents grew up in the Depression, and I don't remember any of those foods being talked about.

For my mother, Depression food was stuff like bread and gravy and veggies from the garden. All the jello and pudding mix stuff sounds a lot more like 1940's food to me.

I remember the old folks talking about lard sandwiches and stuff like that. Or maybe that was a wartime thing.

Gack.

EL -- according to this article, pudding mix ("powder") was retailed as early as 1847, and the My-T-Fine brand was introduced in 1918. So far as I can determine, though, the other ingredients weren't available during the Depression; Rich's introduced frozen whipped topping in 1945, and I don't think canned frosting came along until the 1970s.

My sister and I have been asking our dear Mother how her family coped during the Great Depression. They grew a lot of their own food and they made their own entertainment (my mother played the saxophone in the family band). They never asked their parents for anything, and my mother started baby sitting at age 11 for 10 cents an hour. Of course, it's a lot easier to raise your own fruit and veggies year round if you live in California!

Sometimes I really like tuna casserole but knowing that I have to make it because it's all I can afford is scary, I think!

Lard sandwiches? And they survived long enough to be called "old folks"?

A Big Mac doesn't sound so bad...

yeah, can you imagine opening up the ol' can of Crisco and smearing it on some bread?

Maybe its better on rye.

My mother took lard sandwiches to school for lunch. As described to me, lard was nowhere near as refined as Crisco. Apparently, breakfast was a bowl of oatmeal. Supper was a bowl of beans except for what she remembered as "a long time" when they had oatmeal for both breakfast and supper. There was never a discussion of what do you want, much less what do you like. Her family was better off than my father's. He doesn't remember what his family ate.

Depends how hungry you get.

Clearly, my family was not among those consuming instant jello or pudding.

Crisco isn't lard, it's always been 100% derived from vegetable oil. Besides, good lard is better for you.

That's true about Crisco. My bad. The consistency is about the same, isn't it? To be honest, I don't think I've seen lard in person.

haven't done any lard/crisco tests.

Real lard is tasty, and I spread it on bread sometimes. Crisco is ersatz lard of the worst sort.

Fake lard is that hydrogenated crap you get at most grocery stores. It is worse for you than Crisco and doesn't taste right.

Real chicken fat is good too. When I was young, my mom used to fry it up and then scramble eggs in it or smear it on toast. YUM!

BTW, does anyone know if it's really true that margerine is only one molecule away from being plastic?

Lissa, where do you buy real lard?

Right on Lissa!

Lard!

In my Polish immigrant family, it was tallow over lard. I remember the coffee can (and do you remember when they were wider than they were tall) on the stove where the hamburger grease went -- I guess that counts as rendered -- and which was used to fry the eggs the next morning. Pork fat may rule in Emeril's empire, but suet in all its glory held sway in Buffalo.

Joyce, schmaltz is the ultimate tasty fat! Tallow isn't bad, either.

Hal, I get my real lard from a farmer in Detroit. The pig people at the JFX market say they have real lard, although I haven't tried it.

In case anyone is curious, here is the nutrition info for an ounce of lard:

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/fats-and-oils/483/2

That site is quite handy for looking up the nutrition data on just about anything.

where do you buy real lard?

West Virginia. Seriously.

where do you buy real lard?

West Virginia. Seriously.

LOL...from the nutrition data on lard: Serving size: 205g. Fat: 205g.

(How many shots of lard are in one serving size?)

Schmaltz - the really low price spread.

Baking with lard
http://www.westonaprice.org/motherlinda/lard.html

The Rise and Fall of Crisco
http://www.westonaprice.org/motherlinda/fats_crisco.html

Sometimes the government.agribusiness complex lies to us. Oh! So shocking.

My understanding is that there is lard and good lard. You can buy a pound of lard at the supermarket next to the butter. My guess is that if you got it from a farmer who raises really healthy pigs it would be better lard. There may be details in one of those articles. Did you know that there are grass fed pigs? Yup and their fat has Omega-3s and CLAs. Everything old is new again.

Here is a great article from Food & Wine on the benefits of lard and where to get it:
http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/lard-the-new-health-food

Hmm...where does one buy schmaltz around here?

We could have a fat rendering party. That would be...hipster foodie, no?

I haven't heard the word schmaltz used in forever. Back then it was sort of interchangeable with schlock.

Lissa - you can buy it at Giant. Near the Jewish holidays, anyway if not always. Laughing at the image of a fat rendering party! Kind of fondue for foodies with no guilt!

Eve - when we talk about schmaltz in my house it means matzo balls are going to be made. (although I'd love to be frying onions in it and scrambling eggs in it like mom did).

Lard fondue. Fondon't!

(Thanks, Owl Man...)

Giant...I've heard of them. Will have to look them up. The holidays are over, but it might be close enough...

Bucky,

If you heated lard in a fondue pot, it would no longer be lard, but some very hot oil?

Can I bring a cardiologist with me?
She's cute but kinda rude.

Lard fondue...oh, yes!

Calm down, Lissa.

PCB Rob (are you in anyway related to PCP Bob?) I always thought that heated lard was grease. Not, like, for your axle, but like in "greasy spoon" or the saying, "We're cookin' with grease."