The Coming Firestorm
Holiday whatevers: A dozen posts, tomorrow — to you. I’ll do my best, which means, I intend to deliver quality, not cheap. A few might be only peripherally related to our subject matter, here.
I’ll save explanations for tomorrow, but I have become born again in music over the last couple of months, and it is precisely tied to the diet (oh, man, had I know about this in the college dorm… where the midnight pizzas put me to sleep). Alright, though I feel like expounding, I shall resist, and instead, give you this.
That’s Kenny Wayne Sheperd, Blue on Black, in acoustic. In general, if I love something in accoustic, I’m going to love it even more with electricity applied to the project.
Get a load of the words. It’s a song about futility, near as I can tell. This is one of a few tracks I’ve taken notice of lately and added to my library. Anyway, I have finally stopped hauling around my 200 or so CDs and am most of the way through burning them into iTunes. It is quite an experience, allow me to assure you, to rediscover your 20-something college youth in both feeling and energy, staying up until 1 or 2, alone,doing nothing but listening to music you haven’t listened to in 20 years.
Actually, I feel better than I did when 20, and more energetic.
At 47, I have finally discovered REAL LIFE.
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Richard, I am impressed when you say that at 47 you have more energy than you had as a 20-something. I'm hoping I can get back some of that in my own life. At 55, I feel over-the-hill too many days.
I'm still experimenting to see what does and does not spike my blood sugar (type II diabetic). For instance, I love to make soup with the bones… I save chicken backs, necks, wings, and tails, and am now making broth at least once per week. I think it will help to keep us healthy this winter.
Anyway, thanks to you and Monica, I am going to try pork fat for frying. Couldn't find any lard, but I bought some packs of trimmed pork fat (I assume it's not cured) and am rendering them down in the cast-iron frying pans. I am filtering the liquid fat through paper towels into a Mason jar, and will try frying eggs in it.
I have also read that Europeans prize goose and duck fat for frying stuff like eggs. Maybe I'll try that too at some point.
If I can lose some weight too, that'd be icing on the cake.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxKTzwaEa2o
When I went to the USA for a year my music tastes completely changed. It wasn't the US so much as been alone. I started listening to more depressing soul searching music like Cat Power, Beth Orton and other folkie music. I think when your music tastes change it shows that you as a person have changed
My brother rendered some trimmed pork fat he's gotten from a butcher to make 'cracklins' while up camping. What he didn't use went into the freezer when he got home and was there some months until I suggested he render it for an upcoming camping trip. Did it in the crock pot, strained it, and it came out rather nice.
I'm using leaf lard from Prather Ranch and it's pretty special, without the slightest hint of pork flavor. You might try Googling for leaf lard and see if anyplace can ship to you. Then you can compare yourself.
I fried up some eggs in the rendered pork fat. There was definitely some pork flavor to it, which went well with the eggs. It was pretty late at night, and I was worried a bit that it might upset my stomach, but all was fine.
At your suggestion, I will look for leaf lard, though. I do have one more pack of sliced pork fat to render… next time I'll try it in a crock pot, as you mention above. Easier to clean than the cast-iron pans.
I positively love bacon, though I know the cured stuff has nitrates/nitrites in it. I did get one packet of uncured stuff a few years ago; maybe I can find some again. The pork fat package actually had some meat in there too.
Okay, one question for you when rendering pork fat: Low heat or high? With the cast-iron frying pans I tried it on low, brought it up high for a bit. With a crock pot, I assume I can kind of "set it and forget it" for at least a while. The porcelain crock pot will sure be easier to clean up than a frying pan.
You'll want to do it on low, and, if you have a place outside, like in the garage, that'll be best as it'll stink up the house.