Crisco Pie Crust

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Crisco
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1 and 1/2 Cups Flour
Ice Water (about 1/3 cup)

Instructions

Mix salt with flour. Work in the crisco with finger tips or pastry knife until the crisco is evenly mixed in bits no larger than peas. Stir with a fork as you gradually add water to form the dough. You may not need to use all the water. Pat gently into a ball and wrap in wax paper and chill thoroughly. This should make both a top and bottom. Once chilled, divide the dough in half, one piece slightly larger than the other. Use the smaller piece for the bottom of the pie. Chill the other piece until you are ready for it. Roll on a slightly floured board or pastry cloth. Roll with light, quick strokes of rolling pin, working away from the center to make circle about 1 inch larger the pie pan and about 1/8 inch thick. To prevent sticking, avoid pressing down on the pastry with the rolling pin and lift occasionally with a broad spatula to again sprinkle lightly with flour. Once you have the right size, fold the pastry in half and lift to pie pan. Unfold and fit lightly into pan. Trim edges evenly with scissors or sharp knife, allowing about 1 extra inch around the edge. You will then put in your pie filling. The top is rolled out the same way as the bottom. After folding in half, cut several slits near the center to allow the steam to escape. Brush edges of the undercrust with water, fit top crust over filling, fold edge of top crust over the undercrust, press lightly together and crimp with fingers or tines of a fork. To bake pie, bake on lowest rack at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Move to middle rack, turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 40 minutes or until done.

From the kitchen

For a single pie crust, without a top, cut your recipe in half. Line the pie pan as you would for the undercrust. Crimp the edges. Prick the bottom several timed with a fork. Line the dough with parchment paper or wax paper and fill halfway with rice or pie weights. This will prevent the dough from puffing up. Bake 12 minutes at 450 degrees. Discard the paper and rice when done. Aunt Ta was Papa's father's sister-in-law. She was the nicest lady. I always thought she was a nurse. She worked in the infant department at Sear's and they had them wear white uniforms. It took me years to figure that one out! Anyway, as a shower gift to Gramie, Aunt Ta gave her a recipe box of her favorite recipes, which I now have. Frankly, I had to cheat on this, as Aunt Ta only listed the ingredients, no method included. They all knew how to bake then. I went to my "Boston Cooking School Cookbook" from 1941 to look up the method. I've never used anything but a frozen crust!