One of my grandmother's treasured possessions was a huge general purpose cookbook, published in the 1930's by the Culinary Institute of America. She was a widow with four kids and little education who worked as a cook for some Jewish families in Cincinnati (somebody had to be able to work in the kitchen on Shabbat and High Holy Days). Working as a cook in Jewish households she had to learn to cook Kosher and keep a kitchen spotlessly clean.
Her children, one of whom was my mom, were charitably educated by Episcopal nuns, but Jewish cooking found its way down in the family on my mom's side.
My grandma saved for years to be able to afford a copy of that book and we still have it in the family. The recipes don't use words like "shortening", "vegetable oil", etc., but nearly every single one contains the simple word "fat". Duck fat, chicken fat, beef fat (tallow), whatever was available was put to use. Rendering was the only "processing" involved and everything she made was delicious. This link brought a lot of those flavors and aromas back from my chldhood.
Thank you for your reminiscences. That cookbook was precious to your family. Your mom’s food sounds delicious.
“People are rediscovering that fats in the human diet are good, necessary in fact.”
Carbs are not necessary. It may be more healthy to eat some carbs, but they are not essential to survival. The body can manufacture its own sugar from fat.