Treats for a cold winter's day

I learned a very long time ago how to make pie crust like my Grandma used to make.  It probably isn't very different than so many other recipes, but I almost always know that even if my pie doesn't turn out the way I hope... my pie crust is a winner every time.  My Grandma gave me the recipe when I was maybe 13 or 14.  I did not tell my Mom where I got the recipe for a very long time... it was my secret between me and my Father's Mom.  The secret to the recipe is essentially buttermilk... but my Grandma used whole milk with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in it.  I have tweaked the original recipe a little over the years, but the vinegar in the milk remains a constant.

For a while I used Crisco only, then I wanted to take it up a notch and made it half Crisco and half butter... not to be confused with margarine.  That worked fine until I started questioning exactly what Crisco was.  A couple years ago I threw away my last can of Crisco. I now use lard in place of anything I would have used Crisco for.  In reality, it is in the same category as margarine and I swore off margarine years ago.

My recipe typically makes enough dough for 2 two crust pies.  If they aren't very large pies I have enough dough left after the last crust to make some roll-up treats with the remaining dough. No dough goes to waste.  Those roll-up treats usually have butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and sometimes nuts.  Yesterday I took it to a new level, I added some dried cranberries with the nuts.  Made a really yummy treat.

Should you be interested in the recipe, I have no issues with sharing.  Leave me a note in the comments and I will post it.