Where do I start. As a child we did this every summer, at my Uncle Louie's cottage,Hines park, in our back yard, any time we cooked outside over a fire of any kind. My dad would go to the butcher shop in Delray,  a section in Southwest Detroit. Oh, an for the record , there is no South Detroit, regardless of what that popular record states.

We would go to the counter and get  a piece of bacon fat called Szalonna. Dad would say we are going to Shoot some Szalonna.

The word szalonna means bacon in Hungarian.

So what did we do with this bacon fat.

We would  freshly cut a stick and put a point on it. We would put the piece of bacon on the stick and put it over a hot fire.. Once it starts to sizzle and drip with grease, the szalonna is removed from the fire and the grease is allowed to drip onto a slice of Hungarian rye bread.. The szalonna is returned to the fire and the process is repeated until the piece of bread is nearly saturated with this flavorful grease.

We would put salt,tomatoes,onions, on the bread. Than put some more dripping on top on the  toppings and enjoy . If we were lucky we would get a piece of the drippy bread with some of the charred remains of the szalonna, it would be cut off  of the  szalonna and would be placed on top as the "extra toppings", that was a treat of all treats. 

Well, this summer over the 4th of July, we started up this old family tradition at our cottage in Caseville, MI. My sister Mary Ellen and my younger  brother David Allan, and there spouse were on hand, my two boys with there good friends and my new wife Maryjo.

All I can say, is we will continue to do this and talk about our family around the fire and share an make new memories 'shooting szalonna", my mom and dad I am sure are enjoying watching us .

Enjoy the pictures of this year event.