It's been a long time since I've made a pie, but when I do, I always turn to my mother-in-law's recipe for no-fail pie crust. She made a pie almost every Saturday morning of her adult life...and she lived to 93! When she passed this recipe on to me, I looked at it and found some of the ingredients a little odd for pie crust, but I have found it tastes wonderfully flaky and light, and it is so easy to make. I now use this recipe exclusively.
The recipe can make 2 upper and lower crusts, but today I am just making bottom crusts - one to use for dinner tomorrow and two to put in the freezer for Thanksgiving pies. The rest of the dough will be put to another use...you'll see.
NO-FAIL PIE CRUST
CUT TOGETHER:
3 cups flour
1 cup shortening (I use Crisco Butter shortening)
1 1/2 tsp. salt.
IN A SEPARATE BOWL, WHISK TOGETHER:
1 egg
1/3 cup water
1 tsp. white vinegar
Make a well in the dry ingredients you have mixed together with your pastry cutter, and pour in the liquid ingredients. Stir and form into a ball. Don't overwork the crust. Keep it light. Roll out the dough and place in pans.
Here are the three crusts I made this morning. One is intended for a butternut squash pie for tomorrow's lunch...shhh, I'm telling the kids that it's pumpkin pie.
The other two were sealed into bags for use at Thanksgiving time. They will go straight to the freezer.
Now, what about that nice ball of dough left in the pan? I follow my mother's example and always use it for cinnamon and sugar pinwheels. Roll the leftover dough ball into a rectangle.
If it looks and tastes like pumpkin pie, it must BE pumpkin pie, right?
We shall see if I can fool the young foodies tomorrow!
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