Begin by bringing that water to a rumbling boil

Meanwhile, in a big bowl, dump in your flour, lard (really i just get a handful and plop it in). Using a fork, mix the lard in well, this is what makes the tortillas soft and long lasting if you like to refrigerate for later. Sprinkle in your salt (i really put in about 2 spoonfuls but thats optional). Mix well again with fork. sprinkle in your baking powder and mix again with fork.

Now, your water must be boiling rapidly before you pour it in. Make sure the dry ingredients have been mixed well! [This is an important step as depending on how fresh your flour is it may take more or less water which is why you must pour in the cup and a half and mix with fork first to test it out.] Pour in the water while mixing with a fork.The consistency of the dough begins to look like its forming small inch size nuggets, if its still looking dry add in 1/4 a cup more water and continue to mix til its not dry anymore BUT DONT LET IT GET STICKY.

If it does get sticky add in a bit more flour, not a big deal. the viscosity of the dough will look ready to knead and thats when you can begin to use your hands to knead the dough. (it may be hot, but its imperative you do this while its hot! THATS THE SECRET)

Give the dough some hitter quitters! Roll it up! Stretch it! Poke it! Play with it! Become One with the dough.. it should feel so soft and ur hands should be nice and shiny from the texture. If its tough, and your fighting with it to knead, then you probably should boil another 1/2 cup of water and repeat the process.

Once you're done making sweet love to the dough, leave him in the bowl, cover him with nice moist towel and set aside for 30-45 minutes. Flipping him maybe once during that sitting time. This is important also because this makes the dough fuse together.

Now sprinkle some flour on a flat surface, grab a good palmsize of dough and roll it into a ball, flatten the ball to about a inch thick and begin to roll it carefully forming a circle. flip it over and roll again till you get it as flat as you want. Repeat former step for remainder of dough.. yields about 12-15 depending on your palm size.

Griddle or pan must be dry and at a medium High to high heat when cooking the tortillas. Very important that you follow that, as for anything less hot will give you hard crackers instead. And you should flip as soon as you see bubbles forming larger than an inch. i flip as soon as i see tiny smoke coming from underneath tortilla. DO NOT PRESS YOUR SPATULA DOWN AGAINST TORTILLA, THE ONLY THING YOU NEED TO DO IS FLIP IT OVER, MAYBE TURN THE CIRCLE TO DIFFERENT ANGLE BUT THATS IT!!!

For storage, after i roll one i lay it on foil paper, sprinkle some flour ontop to keep it from sticking to the next "just-rolled" tortilla. i pile it up and then i slip them into a huge ziplock bag to keep them fresh. They get used up by about 4 days in my home, but they can last up to a couple weeks. when your ready for a taco just take it out and cook them on the pan!

BY THE WAY ,THIS IS THE WAY MY GRANDMOTHER'S MOTHER MADE THEM AND SHE ALWAYS SAID A REAL TORTILLA BUBBLES UP WHEN COOKED AND IS AS SOFT TO FALL OVER YOUR HAND.. RIP grandma :(