Pig-fat patriots

I was talking to my dad the other day about our blueberry harvest, and how I planned to can up all the blueberries (currently in the freezer) when the harvest is complete. I also mentioned how we're going to have to aggressively start using more canned blueberries, since we have so many in the pantry.

"Hmmm, pie," my dad said. "With the piecrust made of lard."

I chuckled over this because I'm a fairly recent convert to lard pie crusts. I had been making pie crusts for decades, but because lard had such a bad reputation, I always used margarine (like that's any healthier?) for the crusts.

But almost exactly ten years ago, I tried using lard for literally the first time, and never looked back. I've used lard for pie crusts ever since.

The lard wars harken back to the attacks on natural fats (lard, butter, tallow, etc.) as being "unhealthy," while their vegetable counterparts were given the green light. However since vegetable fats aren't solid in their natural state, they had to be hydrogenated to create margarine and shortening. Despite this chemical intervention, they were still touted as being healthier than animal fats.

"Lard tragically fell from public favor during the Great War on Monounsaturated Fats in the 20th century," notes this article. "Progressive trans-fats activists launched a bombardment of bad publicity against animal fats starting in the 1950s, often culled from inaccurate sources. Everybody loved lard in the 1960s – yet by the 1980s, nobody dared mention it. Humanity's staple foodstuffs were soon caught in the crossfire: Salt, sugar, eggs, butter and wheat were all savaged as unhealthy over the years. But the times they are a changin'. ... Lard has enjoyed a rebirth in recent years thanks largely to a heroic band of pig-fat patriots who withstood the bad-news blitzkrieg."

Let's hear it for the "heroic band of pig-fat patriots." They make pie crusts SO much better.

An experiment with pie crusts

It was my turn to bring dessert to our neighborhood potluck last Sunday. Since the hosts were expecting a full house (I think we had 16 people) I decided to make three types of pies: peach, apple, and blueberry.

But this time I decided to try something different: I used lard for the piecrusts. Even though I've been making pies for something like thirty years, I never used lard because I grew up hearing how awful and terrible lard is (health-wise). Accordingly I always used margarine in my crusts, supposedly because hydrogenated vegetable fats are "healthier" than animal fats.

But the older I get, the more I'm realizing there's a lot to be said for "natural" fats (and let's face it, lard is natural). Besides, I've always heard how pie crusts made with lard are incomparable for flakiness. So I gave it a try. (Doubtless all you expert pie-makers out there are chuckling at my naïveté.)

I pulled all the home-canned goodies from the pantry (I actually ended up using four pints of blueberries, not two).

Apple.

Blueberry.

Peach (in the works).

Rolling out the tops. Incidentally, it's worth noting the smell. I'm not used to the smell of lard and it was a little off-putting while making the crusts. I told Don I hope the smell wouldn't come through after they were baked.

I always like to brush my tops with a bit of milk.

Baked and out of the oven.

And how did they taste? Ooh la la, wonderful! The crust was beautifully flaky, just as promised. I'm a convert. I bought a larger tub of lard to use for upcoming Thanksgiving pies and now I wonder if I'll use anything else. All you expert pie-makers are right!

Canning apples

Skip this post if the domestic arts bore you, 'cuz it's all about canning apples.



Someone gave us a box of apples. I could either make pie filling or applesauce. I went for pie filling.



It was a hideously hot day for canning, but (ahem) federal regulations require that the ambient temperature be at least ninety degrees before you're allowed to can, in order to maximize the discomfort in the kitchen.

I started by washing some quart jars. Wasn't sure how many I'd need so I washed a dozen. And yes, you can use old mayonnaise jars (second from right, front row).



Out came the handy-dandy apple peeler. This baby will peel and core an apple in about twenty seconds. That includes the time it takes me to retrieve an apple out of the box at the beginning, and removing the core from the peeler's prongs at the end (I looked at the clock).



The result are "apple slinkies," as my kids call them.



Next, blanche the apples (dip them in boiling water for a minute or so), then drop them in to a pot of cold water with a little lemon juice added to keep them from browning.



Cores and peels. Wish we had pigs, as they'd love this stuff. The chickens are still too young to handle it. As it is, it all went into the compost pile.



Next, the "sauce" part of the pie filling, made with sugar, Clear-Gel, apple juice, and spices. Cook until it thickens.



Drain the apples and pour the sauce over them, then fill the jars with a wide-mouth funnel.



I used up about half the box of apples and got eight quarts of pie filling. For apples, I can use a boiling-bath canner.

Frustratingly, my biggest pot only held seven jars, so I split the eight jars between my two smaller pots.



Oh yeah, don't forget to do the dishes while the pie filling is processing.



To make a pie, roll out a crust, pop open a jar of pie filling, pour it into the pie crust, and bake. Voila. Wonderful on a cold winter's day.



I'll finish processing the rest of the apples later.