Just look at that beautiful pie!  Jewel like pieces of rhubarb in a pink tinged custard with golden streusel.  Gorgeous.  But before we get into that, we need to talk about crust.  Perfectly tender and flaky crust.  And for that, we need lard.

I first discovered the wonders of using lard for baking in this recipe.  It makes the flavor and texture of pie crust amazing, plus it’s so easy to roll out!  It also has the benefit of being made from animal fat, which is not toxic like the vegetable oil used to make shortening.  Unfortunately, the lard you can buy at the store is partially-hydrogenated, and that is nasty and bad for you.  So, what to do?  Render your own lard at home!  It takes a while, but most of that time is hands off – just letting a slow cooker do it’s thing. (more…)