There are many paths to delicious destinations, Nathan — lard is one of them, butter and shortening are another. Some people don't care for lard's strong taste; some don't want to pay $16 for 5 pounds, and find that the lard in the supermarket isn't the freshest, so turn to butter and/or shortening. From the blog post: "First thing I did was rule out lard. NOT BECAUSE IT’S NOT A PERFECTLY GOOD FAT AND CAPABLE OF MAKING WONDROUSLY TASTY PIE CRUST. After all, our ancestors made lard-crust pies for centuries and, like lard-fried doughnuts, they were delicious. I’m ruling out lard simply because it can be problematic for some folks to find these days. So if you love lard, and have a good supplier – stick with it." To each his own, that's how I approach baking. Thanks for the link, though, for anyone wanting to check out lard on Amazon. PJH

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