My Mom's best pie crust

And here's my mom's secret recipe for piecrust plus all the extra things she told me just before she died...really!


1-3/4 Cups flour. 1 Teaspoons salt

2/3 Cup Lard. 1/4 teaspoon baking powder


5-7 tablespoons water,ice cold

Simple recipe right? Well this is only where it begins..first off the lard is definitely the olden days...they rendered fat fro. Their animals..that was lard..my mother actually never used it in my lifetime at home.she always used Crisco ( and didn't keep it I. The refrigerator a la Martha Stewart ..but you know I do.plus I keep butter at all times nine freezer or fridge..and sometimes instead of Crisco I use half and half or really all butter plus add sugar to the dry ingredients..pate sucree look it up on martha..we are talking French here!
And remember my mom was French on her fathers side..lily France ..met a girl I. Paris from lily..it must be a stop/pilgrimage on my next trip.

Anyway back to the recipe..what you do is get out your pyrex measuring cup and put in several ice cubes and then add the water to that.

But the bling powder is the real secret! Yes..it causes the pastry to rise in the oven therefore not getting soggy.oh and always use Pyrex glass pie pans ..you vp an easily check the doneness of the bottom crusts.

And I always use a pastry blender..that od looking handle with tines in e middle contraption.
It may look odd but my hands were always too warm to combine the dough and don't overwork it ..you will be creating shoe leather!
So you roll out this double crust recipe..after dividing it in half.there is no need to rest eh dough etc.my mom never did any of this and-her pies and the dough were the best!

Mom's instructions continue: sift together( remember this huge flour sitters- probably not if you are not old like me.you can place all the dry I gradients in a good sized bowl and combine them with a wire whisk..I do this..my sifter is somewhere..probably two..one from my mom, one from my mother in law and maybe even one I got when I got married!ugh ! That's three right?
Anyway sift together flour,salt and baking powder. Combine lard..read Crisco or cold butter sliced in half horizontally then crosswise into small chunks with flour til resembles small meal.I leave semi large chunks so when you eat you get a burst of butter..what's better than that. O.k. Maybe a burst of chocolate would be good too.now you are ready to start with the water..I start with 5 tablespoons and have begun to use a table knife to do this.again the less heat you introduce to the dough the pudgier and more delicious the buttery dough. Put a bench flour on your large enough work surface and divide the dough in half. Place the dough on the wood and round up the piece.I get it about the same height uniformly using the palm of my hand and then roll out to 8" pie plate size.roll all in one direction and don't fuss with this adding too much extra flour to work he dough will only make the dough tough so relax and have fun with it.

Now here is the major of all major secrets.she always buttered the Crisco dough..both top inside layer and bottom inside layer..plus she dotted whatever filling and most of the time she used quality canned pie filling with little chunks of butter too.actually mom switched to margarine ears before because their surgeon Doctor- Dr.Nick Egnatz warned her against cholesterol and his tummy growing..my dad was a Higgins amateur golf tournament winner..the Hammond times- he won almost every year and eventually taught golf out there long with the pro.

So you put your rolling pin over the dough and rollup unrolling it over your pie plate.
Prick the bottom or if you are baking something that might get soggy- strawberry pie for instance-Prebake the shell with dried beans to hold down the crust. So fill the bottom crust then place top crust on.

Mix a whole egg with a little water and wash this on the surface of the pie with a brush...
Leave one esp. For baking..you can get a feather vaster..the best!you can also use milk fir this process as I do when I bread chicken..then sprinkle the top with sugar.my new favorite is raw sugar..turbino sugar..it's the bet and stays crunchy!

That is the best pie dough and has helped me win many pie contests.but no one would really share tger secret recipe with you!oops I just did! That puts me in he same camp with Martha stewArt right?

Until next time Bon Appetit
And the next recipe ..how about my favorite dishes of my moms ..meatloaf and scalloped potatoes. And then my favorite cookie.. Sour cream pillow cookies! It is Christmas ti e after all!

Merry Christmas everyone And keep you times warm and cozy..it's going to be a cod and supposedly snowy winter we need all the family warm and warm drinks we can get..that reminds me of an ice cream snoops recipe I could give you..stay tuned out there! Mary Kay