[S_Wirth]

I, too, love apricot anything! Many years ago, I bought slivered apricots from KAF and used them to make lemon apricot scones and muffins. They were so handy. They discontinued them long ago and I've never found them anywhere since.

[S_Wirth]

Mike did this nice article on this topic:

Gravy – the real Mother (and Father) sauce

[S_Wirth]

Glad you were spared serious damages, Mike; hoping you don't find more tomorrow. Maybe we'll see this storm on the news here in a bit.

[S_Wirth]

Grocery store lard is hydrogenated these days and as such not as good as farm sourced lard.

Leaf lard is from around the kidneys and per some users this is the best quality lard.

When I was a kid, my grandparents butchered and rendered the lard in a big chowder-type kettle.

Someone on the old BC had a thread on lard rendering. If I recall correctly, when we had done it in small batch sizes, we just used low to medium heat to slowly melt the fat then packaged in small containers. It will go rancid so needs to be used fairly soon after rendering.

When my parents had hogs butchered, mom had a big lard bucket the lard was placed in by the locker plant. Lehmans.com stll sells those old fashioned lard buckets.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 8 months ago by S_Wirth.

[S_Wirth]

Happy belated birthday, Joan! Glad you had a nice time of celebration.

[S_Wirth]

Nice to have you back with us, Italiancook! I always enjoy your posts.

[S_Wirth]

Husband came home from rehab facility on Oct. 20 and he has been making good progress these past four months. We have had home therapy where we had nurses, physical therapists ad occupational therapists come to our home to do his sessions. He was discharged last Wed. from occupational therapy and discharged Feb. 1 from physical therapy.

We still do all of his exercises each day to keep his strength up. They recommend outpatient therapy now where they will have machines and equipment to help him make further gains. We have a rehab facility 8 miles from us. The owner has a PhD in physical therapy and eight years experience so we hope to get him in there soon.

He is so glad to be home...says it was constant noise and something going on all the time and it is quiet here at home.

He enjoys a trip now and then for groceries or to watch bald eagles and snow geese at a lake nearby.

We need some nice warm days so he can go outside and do his walking and enjoy the scenery. Winter has been a long one for us!

[S_Wirth]

I do remember the bread baking trials, tho, I did not paticipaate in them.

knead2quilt was one that baked breads. Did you know she died? A BC friend was trying to locate her so I searched around and found her obituary or death notice.

[S_Wirth]

Here is another good buttermilk thread from the oldBC.

[S_Wirth]

Merry Christmas!

[S_Wirth]

On the old BakingCircle under FAQ, there was an egg substitute category and this flax seed substitute was shown there.

[S_Wirth]

Oil Crust for Double Crust Pie by jej

[S_Wirth]

We love my Steamed Persimmon Pudding posted here. It was my husband's grandma's recipe. 125 years old a least. Smells so good as it simmers away on a cold winter's day.

[S_Wirth]

Tis the season, many great pumpkin things in this thread.

[S_Wirth]

Joan...so very glad you were spared of serious damages. There is no way we can comprehend the devastation so many in that area have had to face. My heart breaks for all of them that have suffered such horrible losses.

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