This project bubbled up during one of those delightfully stimulating brainstorming sessions in which our fearless leader, publisher, and friend, Bryan Welch, suggested we do something to combat the nearly century-long erosion of wholesome and healthful ingredients from pantries nationwide. Bryan (who farms in addition to running Ogden Publications) is an inspiration, and without his enthusiastic support, this project would have never gotten off the ground.
Lard is a tribute to the thousands of GRIT and CAPPER’s readers who’ve contributed recipes to our extensive database for 130-plus years. This celebration of generations of grandmothers’ secret ingredient is for you. Without your creative passion and generous sharing of techniques, this cookbook would not be possible.
Many thanks to Traci Smith, Jean Teller, and generations of other food editors for their care in maintaining our recipe database—Jean and Traci cheerfully applied their intuition and culinary knowledge to effectively sift through recipes untold, while bringing you the best of the best dishes that use lard as an ingredient. Thanks to Kathryn Compton for lending a bit of levity to the text.
With so many cooks, the Lard kitchen felt crowded at times. We appreciate the efforts of the dynamic duo Andrew and Laura Perkins, who, along with coworker Sherry Nusbaum, managed the compilation and editing process for us and handled the nitty-gritty interface with our publisher, Andrews McMeel. We’re quite sure that this project would have fallen through the cracks had it not been for your gentle urging and commiseration over ever-looming deadlines. Thanks also for bringing Karen Keb onboard. Without her editing skills, food knowledge, and attention to detail, we would still be standardizing the recipe language.
We are grateful that the cookbook team at Andrews McMeel was willing to take a chance on this project. Thanks especially to Jean Lucas for her stern, precise, and professional guidance. I’m sure we seemed like the unruly child at times, but we so appreciate your insight and considerable efforts to turn Lard into the gem it is.
And finally, thanks to you, dear reader, for your undying interest in real food created with real, whole ingredients. Without you, this book would have no meaning.
GRIT editorial team