Bob Taylor
Bella Vista, AR
Fall in the Ozarks
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– Bob Taylor
Author: ozarkstory
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– Kelly Syer
Kelly Syer
Monte Ne ruins in Rogers, Arkansas
I remember as a child hearing stories from my mom about the fascinating Ozark character and once presidential candidate Coin Harvey–and his attempt at building his own version of a utopian-like resort in Rogers, Arkansas. He eventually believed civilization was doomed and started creating a pyramid time capsule, but never completed it after going broke around the time of the stock market crash and Great Depression. Generations later most of it would be under water after the creation of Beaver Lake, though in dry spells some of the architectural ghosts become more visible and a source of adventure for the curious. I love that those stories haunted me as a child growing up in the Ozarks, and I enjoyed passing along the place and its lore to my own daughter. To me, this photo symbolizes what can be the fleeting nature of dreams…our impermanence. Pictured is a ruined portion of one of the old Monte Ne structures, victim to graffiti and the ravages of time–still standing for a few more generations, but with a disappearing story.
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– Laurie Marshall
Laurie Marshall
Fayetteville, AR – Habberton Community
My grandmother Bernelle Louise (Wilson) Whillock was born in a house a half mile from this one in the early 1920s. Her daddy, Knox, was gifted a piece of the family farm, as were each of his 4 brothers, but he was the only one who didn’t build on his. Instead, when my grandmother was grown and raising five children of her own, she talked my grandfather into building a “cabin” on it for the weekends. It turned into a two-story, full-time house, whether grandpa liked it or not.
This house, built by my grandpa, Everett Whillock, overlooks the White River where it turns into Beaver Lake. It holds memories of Christmases in front of the huge stone fireplace, summer nights in the iron bed with box fans humming in the hallway and cicadas in the oak trees, painting faces on rocks while grandma painted clocks and spice cabinets to sell at War Eagle Craft Fair, homemade pie and canned tomatoes. The barn, and the dry creek, and the bluff and the bottom lands are the places of my most happy childhood memories.
When my mother died, she had only purchased the house from her mother’s estate a couple of years earlier, and none of us could afford a second mortgage, so the house and property were lost. I check real estate listings regularly, hoping I can have another chance one day.
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– Steven Jones
Steven Jones
This photo was taken in December, 1978. My parents bought some land outside of Springdale to raise horses and build a house. At the time, the property was way out in the country along a dirt road that ran through forests and a valley with a vibrant creek. The natural beauty of the Ozarks surrounded us and defined my childhood.
Today, the image is very different. I-49 cuts through the landscape in the background of this photo. Billboards interfere with the view. The night sky is no longer dark. Development in the Ozarks has irreversibly modified the land and identity.
The forest has reclaimed where I’m standing in the photo. Black walnut trees and woodpeckers have taken back the farmland. Although much has changed, our ancient, beautiful black walnut trees next to the house are still standing and defending the landscape.
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– Laurel Starling-McIntosh
Laurel Starling-McIntosh
Wilson Park, Fayetteville, Arkansas
Every fall, these ‘ghosties’ appear in our yard on Wilson Park. It’s a friendly reminder of the fun and folic our dear neighborhood has to offer. Children and adults comment and cheer each autumn when they appear.
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Rendering your own lard
Danny Baskin
Fayetteville Arkansas
There are a lot of pig farms up here in the Ozarks, and one of the cheapest, easiest, and most versatile ways to capitalize on this great abundance is to render your own lard.
Step 1. Buy some pork belly or fatback from your favorite pig farmer. It's usually extraordinarily cheap for a huge amount. Keep it cold, almost frozen, but not rock hard frozen. Chop it into little cubes, about a 1/2 inch thick. If you have a meat grinder, you could course grind it, but that's not necessary and I find it's more work to clean the grinder afterwards than it's worth. If there's any large chunks of meat (not fat), set it aside for cooking and eating how you wish but it's ok if you have some little bits of meat still in the cubes.
Step 2. Put all the cubed fat into a big heavy bottom pot and heat it up on a low setting (I use a 1 or 2 setting on my gas stovetop) or use a slowcooker on low and let it do it's thing. If you cook it too hot, the lard will get a somewhat gamey flavor that not everyone loves.
Step 3. Over the course of many hours, the fat will melt, the small bits of discard (or cracklins) will sink to the bottom then rise to the top over time. Once the cracklins have risen and it's "speaking to you" or lightly hissing, it's probably ready for the next step.
Step 4. Using a layered tea towel or some cheesecloth and a colander, strain the lard extra well. It should be absolutely clear with no bits of any kind left in it and often has a light yellow tint to it at this stage. Once you let it cool on the counter for a number of hours, it should be a milky waxy white substance.
Step 5. Now you can keep it in the fridge and use it for whatever you'd like! I store mine in a well sealed glass pyrex container and am sure to use clean utensils when I'm scooping it out for use. It tends to last for a very long time, but if it starts to grow mold or smell strange, don't use it. I've never had any problems with mine going bad and one batch tends to last me a full 6 months at least. But still, caution and care are always encouraged.
Uses: Lard is great for cooking anything with, just as you'd use butter or olive oil. It's got a very high smoke point and is pretty healthy, when used in moderation of course. It's great for pie crusts, tamales, frying stuff, and even for keeping your garage tools well oiled and your cast iron pans well seasoned. You can even make soap with it. It's also a great way to help use sometimes wasted parts of an animal that gave it's life for someone's breakfast.
The Ozarks to me often seems to hold self sufficiency, local ingenuity, and keen resourcefulness in very high esteem. This means that many of the food traditions I experience here are based in using all the parts you can, with the least amount of processing or chemicals needed, and the closest available resources. This often also creates healthier, cheaper, and more accessible food. When I think of a recipe that encompasses all of those tenants, I think of the simple, easy, useful recipe shared above; rendered pork fat or lard. It makes a lot, it’s super easy, and it can be used for a million different things.