Pie Crust

By Elinor Drake, 8-25-2001

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

¾ cup Crisco shortening

Approximately ¼ cup water

This makes one two-crust pie.

Combine flour and salt and stir. Use pastry blender to cut Crisco into flour mixture until fine. Take fork and stir in water a little at a time until it gets clumped into nice ball. You may not use all the water. If the dough is still crumbly, add more water (just a little at a time, the dough should not be too gooey). After the dough is ready, use wax paper and sprinkle flower on it, divide dough in half to roll out on the paper. Place one crust in glass pie pan, put in fruit, and place the other crust on top. Makes one pie (two single crusts).

Use about 4 cups fruit (except for gooseberry), mixed with the other ingredients:

Blueberries -- use with a little over 1 cup of sugar, plus 2 tablespoons of flour.

Cherries -- use 1 1/3 cup sugar, plus 3 tablespoons of flour or 2 ½ tablespoons tapioca.

Peaches (fresh) -- 1 cup sugar, plus 3 tablespoons flour.

Apple -- a little more than 1 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon.

Raspberry – 1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour.

Blackberry – 1 ¼ cup sugar, 3 tablespoons flour.

Gooseberry – 1 ½ cups sugar, 3 cups berries, ¼ cup flour.

Rhubarb – 1.5 to 2 cups of sugar, ¼ cup flour mixed together and then dotted with 1 tablespoon of butter.

Seal top crust edge to bottom crust edge very well (no leaks). Cut air vents in middle of top and about 8 vents 1.5 inches from edge of pie.

Brush half milk/half water or skim milk on top of crust to help it brown. Then sprinkle sugar on top of that.

Bake on rack or put foil if boiling over.

Bake at 400 degrees on bottom rack until fruit bubbles (to get flour boiled into fruit) roughly 45 minutes.

Aluminum pans work the same as glass, but glass makes a deeper, better pie.