A friend sent me an email with a warning of the consequences of eating bacon grease...it has a silly picture of someone jiggling around in a fat suit. Does anyone use bacon grease anymore? That was my seasoning of choice all my life. Growing up we had a little silver can with a lid and after frying bacon for breakfast or sandwiches, the grease was never thrown out but saved like gold in the little can to be used in other foods. Seemed like a respectable way to recycle at the time and kept us from having to figure out what to do with a hot pan of grease.
We used it in pinto beans, green beans, squash fried with onions, and just about anything else we cooked in a pan. Everything got a dollop of bacon renderings which rendered the dish more than tasty. I don't ever remember hearing the words "cholesterol" or "nitrates". All I knew was that it tasted great!
When I married in 1971, one of my shower gifts was my own grease can. This one was red (my favorite color) and came with a set of salt and pepper shakers. It must have been the Cadillac of grease holders because it had a strainer. It held its coagulated treasure for nearly 20 years before developing a pinhole. I had to toss it about the same time that Mikey was diagnosed with heart disease. I thought it a curious coincidence.
Today, I still have the salt and pepper shakers, I still have Mikey, he still has heart issues, but the grease is gone. I miss my grease!
4 comments:
Oh how I love bacon grease too! Since my time to go has already been set by God, I throw caution to the wind and use it to fry even more bacon! Maybe I just love bacon. By the way, VERY clever title!
Love it too! Use it all the time to season veggies- green beans, pinto beans, everything. Keep mine in a jar in the frig. Amy is right....our time to go is already set...and I already have the heart disease.....so don't worry, be happy!
Did you notice the person jiggling around in the fat suit. Did they look familiar? Trust me it wasn't a fat suit. I too like bacon as well as the grease.
Back in the '60s Mom used to collect our grease and donate it to people cooking for the shelters. We must have eaten a lot of bacon because there was enough for us and them, too. In today's society, something like that would be unheard of for sanitary reasons, etc.
I'm sure Mom learned it from my Grandmother, who lived with us since I was 3 years old. Grandma lived to be 92. Mom lived to 78 and her major problem was diabetes. I don't use it now, but I used to make this leafy salad that I'd pour hot bacon grease on top of just before eating. Yum. I eat a dry salad now.
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