On Fri, 27 Feb 2009 09:05:50 -0700, shirley sommers  
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Where can I get    plain ol LARD ?  The  stuff I find at the store or  
> even at the hispanic market is part hydrogenated.

You can make your own.  It's SOOooo good.

Hunt around until you can find pork fat scraps to buy.  I have a source in  
our town.
Cut it up into small pieces, and melt over low heat in a pan.  Keep  
watching it, stirring occasionally, and turn down the heat gradually. You  
want to drive the water off, without overheating it.  When it pretty much  
stops crackling, and the temperature is above the boiling point of water,  
scoop off the cracklings (better than chocolate!), and pour the melted fat  
into pint glass canning jars.  When cool, label and put the extras into  
the freezer.  A jar of home-rendered lard will keep for a month or more on  
your counter without turning rancid.  It is my everyday cooking fat.

I've heard you can use the cracklings in cooking, but they never last that  
long at our house.  A few sessions with the spoon, and they're gone.

	Lynnet