Easy as Pie!!!

The intro: Now I know what some of you will say.....pie? easy? Well for me, pie is VERY easy. It makes a bit of a mess but it is easy. I have heard horror stories of pie experiences, but I can say that I just haven't had it happen. With few exceptions (which were me not follow directions because I was off in lala land) my pie crust always turns out the same. I can tell you that it was from the careful instruction of both my Grandmother and my Mother. So, I am going to try and share the secrets with you, so you can make a fail proof pie crust every time.

The soothing wisdom: Now, I want you to know that my pie crust turned out even in the beginning, but didn't always look as good as they do most of the time now. That is something that just comes from practice and in some cases just how important it is to you. My grandmother made a great pie crust and wonderful pie, but hers didn't always look the best. It didn't bother her to piece together dough to make the top......... my mother on the other hand makes beautiful pies, and amazing fillings. Now, both of these pies severed the eater well....... they both filled the tummy in the most scrumptious way. I loved my grandmother's pie......I loved the homey look of it, the very laid back "do it everyday" way she prepared it.....but I loved it most of all because she made it. My mother's pie you could take anywhere and get glowing reviews before it is even cut.... something to be proud of and I love it........ it is just very perfect and not all of us can live up to that..... So, what I am saying is... pie if prepared correctly doesn't have to look like it came out of the bakery. Grandma nearly ALWAYS ran hers over.....she would say "my mom always said the best pies are the ones that run over" and maybe she was right......she had over filled them with the good stuff everyone loves. They just don't look as pretty. So don't stress. If it doesn't look great, and it bothers you, here is the fix. Don't show anyone the pie.......just cut the pieces and serve. Who will know???

About my recipe: You will find recipes for pie crust that have list of ingredients long, and short. But I have found that the tried and true recipe for me is the most simple of all, and the one my mother used, my grandmother and my grandmothers mother....... It may have went back farther than that. So here is what you need to make my pie crust.

(I plan to blog one day my ideas and feelings about food and how I handle whole foods, organic, all natural, and so on. But for today, I know that Crisco has hydrogenated oils. Remember I have only been educating myself on food for the past 5 to 7 years so, this is a relatively new thing for me. With that said that was what I was taught to make pie with, so I know it works and I like the results. The lard is completely safe as far as natural goes, and depending upon where you get it, it could be all organic. If you buy the stuff that does NOT require refrigeration, the stuff in the green or red tub in the super market, you are buying hydrogenated lard. Simple as that. SO be careful what you are buying if that is important to you. I am still working on a recipe that uses butter. I know I can figure it out if I keep trying, but so far.........not the same, not even close, not even ok. SO, if in the future I figure it out, I will let you know.)

The ingredients: Crisco shortening......or Lard there is no subtitue. Only Crisco or Lard.

flour.....basic all purpose works just fine

water

and a little salt if you like

(if you are making a 2 crust pie...or a filled pie....you will want a little milk, a little butter, and a little sugar)

That is it! Now how easy is that. You will find that some people tell you vinegar, egg, and a lot of other stuff, but I just don't find it helps make a better pie....... so why waste the ingredients. In fact if you want an All American Flaky pie crust, it doesn't help at all. Now if you are a Martha Stewart follower, and I can say I have watched my fair share of Martha, so no offense. She doesn't like FLAKY pie crust. She likes her to be firmer. That is why she says fills the shell with dry beans. If you don't want a FLAKY pie crust do not use my recipe.

The how to:

Here are the 2 rules to my pie crust make it quick and DO NOT touch the dough.

The reason you don't tough the dough is this, we want the fat (crisco or lard) to stay in pieces and not incororate into the flour, because when they melt they will leave air pockets(awwww the flaky.......) that forms the flaky layers we are looking for. Your fingers are warm and they will melt and incorporate the fat into the flour.

Turn on your oven to 425 degrees. Here is the rule of thumb for the amount of flour/to fat. You will use 2 times the amount of flour to fat. But know that I do not like to make more than 2 pie crust at a time. I just can't get the same consistency I want with bigger batches. So for a single crust(like for a pumpkin pie): 1/2 cup fat to 1 cup of flour. For 2 crust (like for a fruit pie): 1 cup of fat and 2 cups flour. Now you need to have a fork or a pastry cutter. I have done it both ways but I really like the pastry cutter because it makes it go faster. You want to use your fork or cutter to push down on the fat into the flour , you are just cutting it up into pieces. You will read in other recipes to make it the consistency of corn meal....."NO WAY" those are too small of pieces...... I try to make mine more something like peas. Some small, some a little bigger but none bigger than the biggest pea you have ever seen. Ok, you can do that, it is simple. Don't make it something it isn't, you are simply cutting up some lard or crisco in some flour.....that is it. Ok, now here is the somewhat trickier part. Fill up a 1/4 cup (for the single crust, 1/2 cup for the double crust) measuring cup with cold water. You don't need ice, just run the tap and get the coldest water you can from there. Pour about half of that into your flour mixture, what you want is for this to all come together in a ball quickly. You will not be "stirring" this mixture for a long time. If there is still flour loose and it is really dry add more water, you do not want a sticky mixture and you don't want to be mixing and stirring. It should remind you of a lumpy sort of play dough. About that consistency. Not sticky but not dry. Just not nearly as well incorporated. You will see lumps of crisco that is OK, that is good. Now put some flour on the counter about 1/2 a cup. Now, you are not going to knead this dough.....not at all...... the same goes for this rolling out process, do it fast and don't mess with it. If you are making 2 crust use your fork to plunk (don't you love that word) a little more than half the dough on to the flour. Now, you want to flip the dough over so that both sides are coated with the flour. Take your hand and rub a little flour on your rolling pen. If you don't have a rolling pen, you can use a glass, but I will warn you it is much harder. Now roll the dough away from you then to your left now check and make sure that the dough is not sticking to the counter. If it is gently lift it up and flip it over and be sure there is flour under it. Now roll in all different directions until the dough will fit your pie plate, (the dough will be a 1/4 of an inch thick or so, you shouldn't be able to read through it that is too thin....) be sure to keep checking to be sure there is flour under your dough and a dusting on top you dough so it doesn't stick to the counter or your rolling pen. You can tell if it is big enough by turning your pie plate upside down and holding it over your dough....is there a good inch and a half or 2 inches beyond the plate. There needs to be to accommodate the sides of your plate. Now I am going to try and save you all kinds of problems with getting this dough into your pan. This is the best way to transport your crust to the pan. Lay your rolling pen on the dough right in the middle of the pie dough, wrap the side of the pie dough that is closest to you up to the top of the pen, now hold onto the handles of your rolling pen and put your thumbs on the dough.......lift the dough and carry it to the pie plate and lay the loose edge on the furthest edge of the pie plate and in a kind of rolling motion roll the dough into the plate. If it breaks piece it together carefully, it's okay, its not going to show and no one will know. Just gently press the pieces together to bond them. Now fill your pie or bake it for cream pies and such. If you are putting a top crust on you pie you will need to do the same thing roll it our and put it on the rolling pen and roll it on to the top of the pie. Now use your finger to press off all the excess dough that is past the most outer lip of your pie plate. (You can save this and roll it back out cover it with some melted butter, and cinnamon and sugar, roll it up and cut off 1 or 2 inch rolls, put them in a pie plate and make PIE CRUST cinnamon rolls. I loved them when I was a kid, and I still do. So if you have children these are a good afternoon snack, or one to keep you or hubby out of the pie until after dinner) For single crust: take off the excess dough and finish your edge by making pinches around it, or with a fork. Unless I am baking the crust with a custard or pumpkin pie filling in it.....in other words if I am baking the pie crust empty, I sprinkle white sugar on it, to make a nice crunchy finish to help it stay crunch when the hot filling is added later. For 2 crust pies: To close the pie, is something that can be all your own. Some people use a fork and mash it closed. Some people do all kinds of fancy things, but for me I have my own family technique. We lay our both first fingers down on the crust and then use our thumbs to push up a bit of dough between our thumbs, then move to the other side of the raised dough, and lay our finger down push up bit of dough. Whatever you decide to do, just try to seal the top and bottom crust together. Here is my secret to a beautiful finish on your pie. Use a fork to poke holes in the top of your pie. You can make designs, make letters to tell the kind of pie, it really doesn't matter, you are just venting the steam that will come when the filling gets hot. If you don't vent the top, the filling WILL make it's own vent and make and ugly torn hole with spewed filling running everywhere out of it.......NOW Pour a little milk in a cup. (Important tip: try not to get milk or sugar on the decorative sealed edge of your pie, it will burn) Now use your finger or a pastry brush to lightly coat the whole top of your pie dough (0nly for double crust) now take out a stick of cold butter and slice pats as thin as you can off the end of the butter. Place these on your pie about a thumbs width apart all over the top of the pie. Now sprinkle sugar all over the top. Put your pie in the oven, if it is a single pie crust you can leave it at 425 until the bottom is lightly brown, if at some point the decorative edge starts to get brown and the bottom isn't, you can put some foil lightly over the edge to prevent it from over browning or burning. If it is a double pie crust with filling leave it at 425 for 20 minutes or so then turn it down to 375. The same for the double crust as the single if the top isn't browning and the decorative sealed edge is browned, you can loosely cover it with foil. Be sure to watch pies carefully you don't want a burnt crust. When the top is golden brown and the contents are bubbling through the vents, it is done.

What to do with it: Here are a few things you can do with your pie crust to feed your family and to take to parties. If you want specific recipes. Let me know and I will either, do another blog and post the recipes, or I can email them to you if I have your email.

cheeseburger or meat pies - one way to do this is to use the left over spaghetti meat, and top with cheese. Or thicken some left over soup or stew and bake it in a pie shell

Quiches - if you are living on a farm, chances are you have eggs. So, add some of you favorite ingredients to your eggs and there you go. If you have never had a quiche, it is kind of like having an omlette in a crust. So the same kinds of ingredients you like in an omlette you will like in a quiche. ham and cheese - broccoli and cheese - chicken and broccoli you get it. I can get you a quiche recipe if you need it, but a good source of recipes for me is allrecipes.com

tarts - this is simple an open top thin pie. However there are so many things you can do with a tart. Look for it and google it and search allrecipes.com. You can make main dishes, side dishes and desserts in a tart

mini pies or turnovers - same goes for these guys.....if you look at my picture that is what I call turnovers. That term can be used for a "fried" type of pie, but mine is just a mini individual sized pie. These happen to be fruit, but you can make them with whatever ingredients you have. It makes serving a breeze, NO CUTTING! But they take some practice cutting and moving them and not over filling them.

These are just a few ideas, I am sure if you do a little searching you will come up with some I haven't thought of and if so, I would love to here about it.

The homespun lesson: You know this makes me think about my Grandmother. She is one of the greatest spiritual influences on my life. She sure wasn't someone to tell you a great sermon, but she lived one everyday. She rarely told me what I was doing was wrong she just showed me the right way...... She prayed out loud some time "Lord give me strength" when my Grandfather was being particularly trying. (I will save Grandpa for another day) Though you might think she was just being funny, she wasn't at all. She really was praying. I saw her stop before and mumble...... I know she was praying...... She wasn't a fancy dresser at all, but I thought she was beautiful. She over flowed always with a selfless love to anyone who found their path to her door. She didn't speak eloquently, in fact she had a language that was all her own. She "wrenched" her dishes in the zink, she worshed her clothes, and there were many others. Fact is she was raised in a small shack with new paper wall paper, miles outside of Kansas City. Caring for her younger siblings when she was just a small child herself. She would carry water up a hill with her sister tied to her dress and her baby brother's gown tail under the bed post for safe keeping while she was away. To say she was backwoods raised would be an understatement. But the lessons of life and of God I learned from her were nothing she was taught in a school, or even at church. They were lessons she learned walking a sometimes rocky road leading only by Jesus, and hours spent at his feet in prayer. Though I treasure the physical knowledge of pie making such......the spiritual gifts I learned are worth more to me than any other. Love others with every fiber of your being, be who God made you, and Love Jesus more than anything else.......simple but life changing.

God bless!