The Red Flannel Rag

Aunt Hazel, Aunt Ethel, and Mom having a good time

preparing butchering day dinner.

Back at the meat boards, other piles of meat were taking shape. There was a pile

of fat to be cut into squares for rendering and turned into lard. Each hog had large slabs

of fat on them. At this point even children were included in the butchering process.

They were responsible for cutting the fat for rendering. The head butcher loved to give

young, naïve children the “gut” fat to cut into small pieces. It was almost impossible t o

cut because it was warm, and the knife blade just rolled it around instead of cutting it.

Older children got the easier fat to cut and passed the “gut” fat to unsuspecting younger

brothers and sisters.

The fat chunks were thrown into an iron kettle and fried a long time to release the

grease. When the pieces were turning crisp and brown on the edges, they were dipped

into a lard press. They were squeezed in the press until every drop of grease was

removed.

The lard press shaped the crisp chunks of fat into what we called “cracklin’ cakes”

about eight inches in diameter and two inches thick. These made great snacks and

many children ended hog-killing day with sick stomachs from eating too many

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