My wife tells about the cookies which her grandmother used to make that everyone scrambled for but she herself would never eat even thoughshe made them. Eventually my wife got her recipe book and they had like a pound of lard in them. She substitutes butter as the recipe says "or."
Same kind of thing with my great aunt Edna. MAN, that woman could cook! I used to love when she came to visit on holidays because she brought cornbread dressing and gravy that were out of this world. Turns out if you read her recipes (my sister-in-law asked her for some of them) they were chocked full of butter and lard and salt.
Funny story though; she made this fruitcake that was out of this world. I always tell people about it when they dog out fruitcake: "you haven't tried my aunt Edna's fruitcake!" That was one of the recipes my sister-in-law asked for. We all figured it was some secret family recipe. Turns out it was printed every year in the Tampa Tribune. My wife makes it for me every Christmas and I keep some for months after frozen for special occasions.