Lard: The Lost Art of Cooking With Your Grandmother’s Secret Ingredient by the editors of Grit Magazine (Andrews McMeel, $24.99)
My grandmother used lard in many of the dishes she served to our family and before anyone makes a judgment call, let me add that she was healthy throughout her life and lived to be 103.
We have become so cautious about the foods we eat that we steer clear of any recipe that requires lard even though animal fat has been used in cooking for hundreds of years. Even dietitians occasionally tout lard since it contains only 54 percent of the saturated fat found in butter and is free of trans fats when rendered properly.
The editors of Grit Magazine have gathered 150 time-tested recipes, all guaranteed to take much of the stigma away from using lard in our kitchens. The recipes cover over a century of American cooking. If you’ve never baked with lard, you are in for a treat. Biscuits, for example, are the flakiest, pancakes the fluffiest, and crispy fried chicken a gift from the gods.
The recipes in this collection are divided into seven main chapters: Breads and Biscuits; Vegetables; Main Dishes; Cookies and Brownies; Pies; Cakes; and Desserts. The dishes are accessible and require few, if any, extra trips to the grocery store.
I tested four recipes from this excellent cookbook. I found some fresh okra at the market and broke out my cast iron skillet for some traditional Fried Okra. I chose cooking it in cast iron since using skillets made of copper or brass will turn okra black while cooking. The surprise in this recipe was evaporated milk which I don’t remember being in my grandmother’s recipe. My second choice was — hush my mouth — Corn Pone Pie, a Southwestern dish but made with a Midwestern twist and served with sour cream, green onions and cilantro. I could not resist Southern Fried Chicken and even made a batch of Apple Sauce Brownies for a nice change of pace from my regular recipe.
As I mentioned, the recipes in this collection reflect a century of American cooking. I was intrigued by several selections from the WWII-era when certain items such as butter and sugar were rationed. I plan to eventually make the World War II cake which requires no eggs.

SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN
(the real deal)
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp white pepper
2 cups buttermilk
Lard, for frying
1 frying chicken, 2 to 2 ½ lbs) cut into 8 pieces
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Combine the flour, salt, and white pepper in a paper bag. Place the buttermilk in a large bowl. Set both aside.
In a heavy cast-iron skillet, heat the lard to 340F and 1 ½ to two inches deep (start with 2 cups, adding more if needed). One by one, coat the chicken pieces in the buttermilk, then shake in the bag until well covered with the seasoned flour.
Add the chicken pieces to the hot fat, leaving a little space between the pieces so that they are not crowded. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until underside is golden brown, about 15 minutes. Turn and cook until the other side is brown. Reduce the heat to low; cover and cook an additional 10 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink at the bone. Remove chicken from the fat and drain on paper towels.

Ripe: A Fresh, Colorful Approach to Fruits and Vegetables by Cheryl Sternman Rule with the photography of Paulette Phlipot (Running Press, $25)
I still remember my mother locking in on me with her laser beam eyes while insisting I not leave the supper table until I had eaten every single vegetable on my plate. It was not a happy time. After examining this new cookbook, I have come to the conclusion that my aversion to vegetables when I was a youngster wasn’t because I hated veggies but rather that they were usually overcooked in our family kitchen.
“Ripe” promotes the idea that we should eat more fruits and vegetables not because we’re told we should but because they are tasty and add freshness, flavor, and simplicity to our diets.
Cheryl Sternman Rule, a food writer who has written extensively for such publications as EatingWell, Health, and Sunset magazines, and Paulette Phlipot, an award-winning food, travel and lifestyle photographer, have combined their talents to produce a fascinating new cookbook with its recipes grouped by color, not season. For example in the red section there is a focus on beets, cherries, cranberries, and strawberries. The orange selection includes pumpkin, yams, and persimmons. The other chapters are Yellow, Green, Purple & Blue, and white. Each fruit and vegetable is accompanied by an essay, breathtaking photography, and a showcase recipe.
With 150 photos and 75 recipes, this unique cookbook is satisfying on several levels. The recipes are accessible and will add a great deal of variety to our meal planning.
I had to smile when I got to the pages devoted to Brussels sprouts. As a youngster I hated them, hated them until my grandmother revealed that they were actually “fairy cabbages.” From that day forward, they became one of my favorite vegetables. When buying Brussel sprouts in the grocery store, see if you can find them still attached to their stalks for extra freshness. Again, the secret is not overcooking them.
I tested three recipes from this cookbook, “Fried Sage and Chestnut Brussels Sprouts,” which I was able to prepare in about 15 minutes from kitchen counter to the table. Since I love spinach, Gouda cheese, and tomatoes, my second pick was a delicious “Spinach Smoked Gouda Frittata with Tomatoes,” a perfect choice for a hot afternoon. My final recipe was “Avocado Tangerine Salsa,” since I have a tangerine tree that this year has produced a bumper crop.
This is a cookbook that is fun and highly recommended.

AVOCADO TANGERINE SALSA
Makes about 2 cups
4 seedless tangerines, peeled and white pith removed
1 avocado, diced
¼ c diced red onion
1 Tbs minced fresh cilantro
1 ½ tsp minced jalapeno or red chile, or to taste
1 tsp lime juice
Sea salt
Tortilla chips, for serving
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Dice the peeled tangerines. Gently stir the avocado, onion, tangerines, cilantro, chile, and lime juice in a small bowl. Season with sea salt to taste. Serve with tortilla chips.
This recipe is flexible in that you can substitute oranges for the tangerines but no tomatoes.

Never Cook Sober Cookbook: From Soused Scrambled Eggs to Kahlua Fudge Brownies, 100 (Fool) Proof Recipes by Stacy Laabs & Sherrie Field (Adams Media, $14.95)
Stacy Laabs and Sherrie Field believe that cooking is much more fun when you’re hammered. Stacy, who began a lifelong appreciation for wines and liquors after taking a bartending course when she was 21, and Sherrie, an accomplished homebrewer and wine maker, serve up 100 recipes for appetizers, entrees, sides, and desserts that are guaranteed to get your taste buds buzzing.
Speaking of buzz, almost every recipe in this collection is guaranteed to trigger a hangover so be forewarned, unlock that liquor cabinet and let the cooking begin.
The recipes are basically divided into four sections: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Desserts. Laabs and Field recommend that in order to keep costs down, miniature bottles of alcohol will help. They also suggest that you should play with flavors and the alcohol content. Depending on how tipsy you plan to get, adjustments can and should be made.
This is more a celebration than a cookbook. The authors urge readers to “Go drink, eat, and drink some more to salute all your dreams, forgive your mistakes, and move on to embracing your goals in the journey.” They add that it is all about finding fun in hard times. Life is too short, so carpe diem!
As Edward Abbey once said, “A drink a day keeps the shrink away,” so one of the first recipes I tested was a breakfast recipe. I love yogurt so was especially intrigued by the “Giddy Raspberry Tea Vodka Granola Yogurt.” It was, indeed, a bracing way to begin a new day. My second recipe was a tasty “Chillin’ Whiskey Pork Chops,” topped off by a decadent “Memory Lapse Banana Rum Cake.”
This is a fun collection. I had fun, I think.
MEMORY LAPSE BANANA RUM CAKE
Serves 12
Cake:
1 package yellow cake mix
1/8 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1/3 c dark rum
1/3 c olive oil2/3 c cream soda
1 cup banana, finely mashed
1/3 c toasted, chopped walnuts
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Icing
¼ c butter, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbs dark rum
2 Tbs cream
¾ tsp salt
3 c powdered sugar
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Preheat oven to 350F. Combine all of the cake ingredients (except the walnuts) in a large bowl. Mix until smooth, then fold in the nuts.
Pour mixture into a Bundt pan. Bake for 35 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
For the icing, combine butter, vanilla, rum, cream, and salt. Slowly blend sugar until icing is smooth and thick. Apply icing to cake. Serve.