A good number of you I know, have followed and even participated in, my Search for The Lard. Notable efforts were supplied by Jennifer, who searched, photographed and posted her search. My father-in-law bought lard for me in St. Louis, where he said there are entire grocery store aisles devoted to the stuff. The lard he delivered to my home (by car, 800 miles) never got put into a crust, however. I put it in the freezer downstairs and then there was an incident where someone left the freezer door ajar which naturally went unnoticed for several days. The lard was among the many unfrozen items we had to throw out.

This Lard brought to you with Cheese

In June, we went to a Jaggers Family Reunion in Rockport, Massachusetts where my husband’s uncle found some lard in the local grocery store. That’s him there on the left, posing with The Lard. If you’ve ever lived in Memphis, Tenn. you may think you recognize him. You do.

THIS lard got left behind at the house in Rockport. I was officially vacationing and so didn’t bake a pie while it was in my possession and then forgot to pack it in the cooler before we began our long drive home.

Dishing up the Peaches 'n Cream Pie

I know there’s lard out there — even here, in Charlottesville, but something has stopped me from making the trip to Reid’s (or any of the other lard-stops my readers have pointed out. I haven’t been baking much at all. In fact, the last from-scratch pie I created was in August — the delicious Peaches ‘n Cream Pie I baked for my friends.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lard

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http://www.prairiepridefarm.com/products/index.php?catid=17

The girl went peach picking with her daycamp and brought back a couple of pounds of fresh, delicious peaches with a request for peach pie.

Peaches are now in season!

I put her in charge of researching the recipes and decided on Peaches and Cream pie with an all-butter crust. My pie experimentation has led me to determine that all-butter crusts are particularly suited to fruit pies and so that was my crust of choice for this pie.

Peaches and Cream pie is simple, really. The ingredients include fresh peaches, heavy cream, powdered sugar and a sprinkling of brown sugar. What could be easier?

After preparing the crust, the first step with the filling is to skin the peaches. So, I donned a negligee, poured myself a sloe-gin fizz and told the peaches, in a Southern drawl, how I’d always depended on the kindness of strangers. Nothing happened. You can’t Blanche peaches, you must blanch them to remove the skin. That “e” sure makes a big difference.

Blanch your peaches, don't Blanche them.

To blanch a peach, boil a big pot of water and lower each peach into the water using a slotted spoon. Count to 15 and lift the peach out and let it cool for about a minute. This makes the skin slide right off effortlessly.

Some people are peach-skinning whizzes but I find this retains more of the fruit and is kind of fun to do, anyway.

I hadn’t made a peach pie since I was a kid. We had a peach tree in our backyard and I lived in it for about three years. I’d climb up there with a book and come down covered in sap, just in time for dinner. The smell of peaches holds strong memories of my childhood. We had so many peaches from that tree that I remember making several peach pies each summer. I haven’t done it since because my husband simply does not like peaches. I love peach pie! I had enough peaches and so made two, one for the family and one to share with friends.

Peaches and Cream Pie

My friend Linda invited a few of us to her home for a get-together. This group of women are all involved in communications and design in one way or another; we enjoy one another’s company and had a wonderful time chatting and updating one another on our professional and personal lives.

You CAN make friends with pie!

The pie was a success! One friend even said it was the best pie she’d ever had. It was good, too — I served it with fresh whipped cream for an extra-special touch.

I think what I like best about baking pie is sharing it with others who appreciate it. Here are my friends Linda, Anne, Maggie and Caroline digging into the pie (they graciously agreed to let me post this photo). Thanks guys!

At the Harris Teeter, I paused before the refrigerated case with the butter. I knew if I stood still long enough, an employee would ask if I was finding everything OK. They always do. An employee approached with the requisite question. I did my best Meg Ryan head tilt and asked, “If I were to be in the market for some lard, where might I find it?”

“Oh we don’t sell lard. Had to take it off the shelf. It’s bad for you, you know,” he said.

Inwardly, I snickered. Here we stood in a store that sells cigarettes, bacon, beer and wine, hundreds of products made with synthetic food materials and I’m being told a little lard has been taken off the shelves.

“What are you going to do with lard? Cook some beans?” he asked.

“I want it for pie crust,” I whispered, conspiratorily. “Please don’t tell anyone I’m buying lard.”

It occurred to me that it might be easier to buy illegal drugs than it is to buy lard in this community.

“HEY, JOE! WHERE CAN THIS LADY BUY SOME LARD?”

Oh jeez, now the whole store knows I’m the lard-buying lady. “You weren’t supposed to tell anybody!” I hissed, looking around anxiously for neighbors, kids’ teachers or my DOCTOR. The two employees pondered my dilemma as I tried to blend, chameleon-like into the display of “trans-fat free” margarine. “You probably want to drive out to a country store. No place in town is going to sell lard.”

BECAUSE IT WILL KILL YOU, I thought. “So drive out to some county where nobody knows me and go to a nearly deserted country store and there I will find the lard?”

“Yep. Good luck.”

I continue on my search for The Lard.

Amen.