Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Bacon Grease


Is it a southern thing, or does everyone have a jar or can of bacon grease? 
Casey asked "Mom, why do you keep bacon grease?"  My answer, "Beause I need it?"
I started thinking about the little things we pick up from other generations, like keeping bacon grease.  I know Mom has a jar...well, I think she has a pretty can to keep it in, and I know my grandmother's kept it.  It's one of those kitchen essentials...kind of like an iron skillet.  It's one of the first things I started keeping when I first had my own home.  It's a tradition...handed down from generation to generation.

So many things are passed down to younger generations...like how to fold towels.  I always remember Mom folding them in thirds, so I do, too.  Why does it bug me when they aren't folded in thirds?  I guess it's just one of those things that is ingrained into my personality. (I wish I had that neat-freak gene like Mom)

There is another trait that has been bequeathed to me from older generations, faith.  I hope I continue to to learn from Mom, and from my grandmothers....lessons in faith.  Always rely on God in any situation.  I can still hear my Mama (pronounced mammaw...it's southern word for grandma :) Hopper's words, "Honey, God won't put on you more than you can handle."  She lived that every day of her life.  She was injured in a car accident in 1940 and was not able to walk after that.  She was always full of life, and so much fun, and she would make us doll clothes and sew them onto the doll because she did not like to see naked baby dolls!  She had every right to feel sorry for herself, but she didn't, and she never complained.  I still miss her and would love for her to have know both my boys, she thought Casey was something special.

Oh, and just a little poll, do you keep bacon grease?  I'd love to know....just because I like to know about strange things like that.

7 comments:

The Garners said...

I was just thinking the other day how I missed Mama and the fun times we had at her house. I also wish she could have known our kids. SO MANY fun memories of her.

P.S. I don't keep bacon grease. I remember seeing it at Grandmother's house (in a coffee can, I think).

Heather said...

I have bacon grease, just as my mother always had, and her mother before her. I come from a Kentucky foothills family on my momma's side! My odd generational food habit- when you cut the ends off a cucumber, rub the cut ends over the ends of the cuke. It gets the bitterness out... Something learned who knows how many generations back that is still done today!

hawkeyejlp said...

Yup, I do. I don't have much, but it's lovely to use in green beans, in scrambled eggs...yum. Drooling a tiny bit just thinking about it.

Traci Michele said...

I don't keep bacon greese, what do you use it for? :-)

Thanks for joining the love dare! Praying for you.

Love,
Traci @ Ordinary Inspirations

Shelley Ledbetter said...

I have several jars of bacon grease in my fridge. You can't fry a potato, season green beans or mustard greens without it. We fry bacon on the weekends and JC makes sure we save the grease. I had a friend tell me that she only cooks bacon three times a year and she hoards her bacon grease so that she can season her brown beans with it. I guess I'm so country that it didn't occur to me that some folks don't save the bacon grease. (I keep mine in pint canning jars).

The Dean is in... said...

I don't have a jar of it but I do have a metal sealable container of it and now that I see it in that jar, I do believe I will be getting one like it to store my grease in. I love cooking with bacon grease. :)

Judy Johnson said...

No, I don't keep bacon grease. My mom did when we were growing up. She had a can that acutally matched her canister set that had "grease"etched on the front. I usually look for an empty can in to kitchen gargage can to dump my bacon grease in. When it sets, I put it in the trash. If I dont' have a can handy, I dump the grease into bowl and when it sets, wipe it out with a paper towel and trash the towel and wash the bowl.
I know what you mean about doing things a certain way because our mom's did them. For me doing things mom's way has been a way of holding on to a part of her after she passed away.