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If you have never eaten
cracklin??™s, you have missed a rare treat.? And if you
have not had cracklin bread, then you have indeed been
deprived.? As a child I watched my grandfather and the
boys (uncles, my daddy and the hired man or neighbors)
as they slaughtered the hogs and got them ready for
the women to clean, cut up and ready for the
smokehouse or the big iron pot.?
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After the ladies got
the slaughtered hog from the men, they would scrape it
well to remove every bit of hair.? The men would have
dipped the hog in scalding hot water before handing it
over to the ladies or the ladies would have to do that
before scraping.? After the hog was thoroughly cleaned
and scraped, the best part of the job would start.?
The hog would be cut into various cuts of meat and
divided among the ones who were working.? Usually a
large part would be given to the neighbor who had
helped because when it was time to slaughter his hogs,
our family would help and get a portion of his.
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Grandmother was always
in charge of preparing the meat for everyone.? They
cut it into rib sections, pork chops, roasts, and
would grind the bits and pieces of meat and fat to mix
into seasonings to make sausage.
?
There would always be a
lot of skin because the hogs were very large and very
fat.? ? The ladies would cut the skin and attached fat
into small pieces and put it all in one of the large
iron pots over a big fire.? The fat would get very hot
and melt down or as they called it was rendered and
became lard.? We used lard for cooking way back then
because we did not have cooking oil.? Then the best
part of that cooking would become visible as the bits
of skin and little pieces of meat that were attached
to it would start to float to the top.? We now had
fried skin, fat and meat and they were delicious.?
These bits were called cracklins and everyone would
look forward to having some to eat as a snack.? When
they were removed from the pot, salt would be
sprinkled over the top and then they would be allowed
to cool.? ?
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Because of all the
warnings about cholesterol and fat, most people don??™t
want to eat those delicious bits of the hog but
cracklins are a treat that should be tried at least
once in a lifetime.? We can now buy Pork Skins in a
package like the ones potato chips are in and they are
very good but nothing can take the place of a
wonderful cracklin made by the family on slaughtering
day.?
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The left over cracklins
would be saved in a tight container and used later to
make cracklin bread that is a kind of corn bread with
cracklins mixed in before the bread is baked.?
Cracklin bread was not only good but could serve as a
meat dish with the bits of meat inside.
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Oh what memories I have
of those wonderful days in the fall and early winter
when the family would gather outside and be a part of
the hog-slaughtering day.? Our children hear the
stories from us of our lives in the ???good old days???
and I think they don??™t realize that although we had
difficult times and no entertainments like the movies
and television, we did have fun and our lives were
full of things that families did together.? Perhaps
families stayed together more in those ???good old days???
because they not only were family but they did things
together to have fun and also working together on the
family farms.? There is a saying "the family that
prays together, stays together."? I believe that the
family "that works together also stays together."
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?© Doris B. Fandal
March 26, 2005? ? ? ? ?
Doris
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