ewein2412: (Default)
EWein2412 ([personal profile] ewein2412) wrote2011-11-14 09:33 am
Entry tags:

shameless commercialism, reprise

"I reckon if there's anything you ought a know about cooking, it's this."
"That's just lard, ain't it?"
"No, it ain't just lard," I say. "It's the most important invention in the kitchen since jarred mayonnaise."
"What's so special about" - she wrinkles her nose at it - "pig fat?"
"Ain't
pig, it's vegetable." Who in this world doesn't know what Crisco is? "You don't have a clue of all the things you can do with this here can."
She shrugs. "Fry?"
"Ain't just for frying. You ever get a sticky something stuck in your hair, like gum?" I jackhammer my finger on the Crisco can. "That's right, Crisco. Spread this on a baby's bottom, you won't even know what diaper rash is." I plop three scoops in the black skillet. "Shoot, I seen ladies rub it under they eyes and on they husband's scaly feet."
"Look how pretty it is," she says. "Like white cake frosting."
"Clean the goo from a price tag, take the squeak out a door hinge. Lights get cut off, stick a wick in it and burn it like a candle."
I turn on the flame and we watch it melt down in the pan. "And after all that, it'll still fry your chicken."


--Kathryn Stockett, The Help

...The secret ingredient to whoopie pie filling and all commercial cake frosting in the USA! I have to mail order mine. This passage must be an utter mystery to Waterstones and Tesco bookbuying readers. "Who in the world doesn't know what Crisco is?"

(I knew she was going to talk about Crisco from the first sentence. Although, to be honest, I did not use it in my own cooking till I began making whoopie pies.)

Re: tanita chuckles:

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2011-11-14 12:35 pm (UTC)(link)
My mom decorated cakes when I was a kid, so when my wedding rolled around, I requested fondant frosting on my cake along with a spray of cut flowers.

(The bakery delivered the wrong cake, sticking me with a hideous creation with blue frosting/cream cheese roses on top. However, the bride that did get my cake (in another town) said it was beautiful....)

Re: tanita chuckles:

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2011-11-14 12:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, she did! Ick!

I agree....but I had little choice, since the baker had left before I got downstairs...

Re: tanita chuckles:

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2011-11-14 01:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Ten years? EEP!

We kept the top of our substituted cake for only a year. Since it was Italian Cream Cake (which I abhor) I only ate a bite. That was enough!

ETA: Your gran was awesome ;o)
Edited 2011-11-14 13:07 (UTC)

Re: tanita chuckles:

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2011-11-14 01:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, that's right!

Re: tanita chuckles:

[identity profile] lauradi7.livejournal.com 2011-11-14 03:21 pm (UTC)(link)
We put the top layer of ours in a friend's deep freezer. She dropped it off in the front entryway of the two-family house we lived in then. We only used the side porch to enter and exit, and didn't know that the cake was there for several days. The cake itself (carrot cake) was marginally edible for ceremonial purposes, but we presumed the cream cheese frosting would have become a bacteria playland.

Re: tanita chuckles:

[identity profile] tiboribi.livejournal.com 2011-11-14 12:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Wait, cream cheese frosting is one of my favorite kinds. I didn't know you could make roses out of cream cheese frosting. I thought the whole point of using crisco instead of butter is that it doesn't melt as easily, but cream cheese is so melty and runny!

Re: tanita chuckles:

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2011-11-14 01:00 pm (UTC)(link)
They were very wilty roses....it was bad.

Re: tanita chuckles:

[identity profile] tiboribi.livejournal.com 2011-11-14 02:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah, that doesn't sound good.

I had a friend who piped a rose directly onto a cupcake last Halloween with Baileys-coffee buttercream. It was lovely and delicious. We did the rest of the cupcakes like floorboards. (Each cupcake had a cherry in the middle; they were Tell Tale Heart cupcakes.)

Re: tanita chuckles:

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2011-11-14 02:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Now I'm craving cupcakes!!!