Gramma's Never Fail Pastry & Cinnamon Pastry Bites

I had the privilege of visiting with my grandparents this week!  They live on Vancouver Island in BC (an entire day's drive and ferry ride away from here) so we don't get to visit as often as we would like.  We try to get together once a year and this year they came to visit everyone here in Alberta.  As always, we had a lot of fun together!  Here are few highlights from the trip:

Dad took us all fishing the first day and though we didn't catch anything, we had loads of fun.  Here's Grampa towing Dad and Roxanne behind our boat. 

A few days later, Gramps came to visit the community greenhouse with me and give me some gardening tips!  I was really excited to show off what I have grown so far and learn the different types of plants/bugs hanging out in the greenhouse!  My Gramps is SO informative when it comes to gardening - he has been talking about starting a gardening website/blog - I really hope he does!  

Gramps also bought me a soil moisture meter from Canada Tire - it measures the moisture in the soil so you know if you need to water more or if you are drowning your plants!  I love that even though I'm 27 years old my Grampa still buys me toys when we go shopping together at the store!  :) 

... and of course Gramma and I got some cooking and baking in!  One of my favourite things in the entire world is baking with my Gramma.  She is a genius when it comes to all things food... it's not hard to figure out that this is where my Dad, brother and I get our passion for cooking from! This visit Gramma and I made red pepper jelly, apple pie, and cinnamon pastry bites!  Here's Gramma making an apple pie with her delicious pastry (recipe at the bottom of this post): 

We took my Grandparents back to Edmonton today (so they could catch their flight) and stayed over at my brother's house.  He made the most delicious lasagna I have ever had and Heidy made a yummy strawberry salad. 

 After dinner, Heidy and I went for a walk so she could pick some local flowers so she could make a flower arrangement for her blog.  She found these gorgeous flowers in the alley at Brian's.

The next morning Brian made a delicious breakfast for everyone before we all went our separate ways.

All in all we had a wonderful visit with everyone and look forward to the next one!  

All of the recipes that Gramma and I made together will be shared in the coming weeks, and this week I would like to start off with Gramma's famous "Never Fail Pastry" and "Cinnamon Pastry Bites".

This recipe isn't in my usual format - instead you get to see the recipe exactly how I see it in her "Drew Family Cookbook" - a book Gramps typed up and placed in a binder for each family member.  The book holds over a hundred recipes neatly categorized into sections and holds some of my all-time favourite recipes. 

This recipe makes a pastry that is all kinds of tender and flaky, and makes enough dough for 4 pie crusts.  Wrap unused dough tightly and store in fridge for up to a week, or freeze for later use.  

Leftover pie crust?  Sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar (to taste) on flattened dough and cut into pieces.     

Place on a baking sheet and bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes or until pastry is golden brown around the edges. 

                                                                             Enjoy!