All about the pie!
Thanksgiving this year is going to be all about pie. Some years I do a big dinner and then try to schedule all the family to come to eat it. This year I decided that I won’t bother trying to get everyone here for dinner… just dessert!
I make a pretty darn good pie. Heck, even when I use store bought pie crust I make a good pie.
Pie is my favorite. Favorite dessert to eat, and make. Fresh fruit is the best, but custard pies are also good. Even stuff out of a jar, like mincemeat… pie is good. Savory pies, too… I have a recipe for a tomato pie that is just lovely!
It’s time to share my pie crust recipe. This was handed down to me from my mother… and my mother got it from a neighbor when I was a child. I’ve known this recipe by heart since I was a child! I’ve had to write it down a few times for friends… but I never have to look it up for myself.
I don’t remember what the original recipe was named… I think it was just Diane’s Pie Crust. I call it Never Fail Pie Crust. It’s never failed me, not even when I made it with Crisco and Self rising flour! LOL, that’s a story I’ll have to tell…
The BEST Pie Crust Recipe Ever.
5 1/2 cups flour
1 lb. lard
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 tablespoons vinegar
water
Using a pastry blender, cut the lard into the flour until finely crumbled.
In a one cup measuring cup beat the egg, vinegar and salt. Add water to make one cup.
Make a well in the flour and lard mixture and pour in the egg and water mixture.
Mix gently until it all holds together. Turn out onto a floured pastry cloth and give it a couple good turns with kneading and adding a bit more flour until it quits sticking to your hands. You can over mix this, but you’d have to knead it like bread for 10 min before it would get tough.
This recipe will make at least 5 single crust pies, and maybe more, depending on how thin you roll it. I’ve gotten 3 single crust and 2 doubles from it. You can roll out and freeze the crust for later use, which is best… or just smash the extra into a baggie and freeze that. It thaws pretty quick, but will be sticky… so if you have extra pie pans it’s really just better to go that route.
Now, I know using lard is supposedly not healthy… but a bit of fat in your diet is actually good for you. How often do you eat pie anyhow? Do you want yucky pie crust that everyone scrapes the filling off of and throws away? Or do you want pie crust that everyone eats every bite of because it’s that good? Even for a sweet pie, the crust should be crispy, flakey and slightly salty… and for a savory pie, it’s even more important. You can substitute vegetable shortening for the lard, but I don’t recommend it… flavor is why we use the lard.
My sister Val, who reads here and comments… she loves pie like I do. Well, I think she does…. because I remember she wrote a poem about pie when she was age 5 or so. ”I like pumpkin pie. 1,2,3,4, popeye”.
My daughter Sarah loves pie, too. Her birthday this year is right on Thanksgiving… and pumpkin pie is her favorite. I have actually made her a giant 10 inch pumpkin pie and told her it was all for her… lol! We even put candles in it. Birthday pie.
I can take or leave pumpkin pie. Some years I try something different… but mostly I stick to basic recipes. Easier and no worries about oh… someone can’t eat that. I made a pumpkin cheesecake type pie one year and another year it was a combination pumpkin and pecan pie… with layers that magically worked out… you got pumpkin pie and pecan pie all in one bite… but hey, simple pie is best.
Make your favorite pie with this crust… and then tell me about it. Oh, and if you make this crust using lard and everyone hates it… let me know and well, I won’t pay you, but I’ll put your family on the DNPC list. ”Do Not Pie Crust” :) Some people hate pie crust no matter how nice it is, and they won’t eat it just out of habit of avoiding bad pie crust.
As for me… well, I like apple pie, and pumpkin pie… and I found out when I was 20 something that I LOVE pecan pie… who knew? I hate walnuts and I thought pecans were the same as walnuts… and I love cherry pie and tomato pie and blackberry pie if someone takes all the seeds out, lol…. Oh, and I love chocolate pie and banana cream pie and lemon meringue pie. ANY fruit pie is good….. and those are my favorite even if I have to use canned stuff to make em. Custard pies… very yummy… well, I like pie!
hugs,
Vyx
I forgot about the pie crust story… I was staying with friends and I offered to make the Thanksgiving pies, but I wanted pie crust ingredients, not frozen pie crusts. Lard and regular flour… but what they got me was Crisco and self rising flour. So, I made crust with that… really tough crust with crisco and self rising…well, tough to mix and roll out without a real rolling pin. Plus the crust was a bit on the dry side and cracked when rolling. Pecan pie… oh, that’s when I found out I love pecan pie. But it came out with biscuit crust on top of the pie because of cracks that let the filling flow under. Ditto the pumpkin pie. Funny thing is that both those pies tasted just fine with the crust on top! :)