A piece of the pie

Hubby wanted a razzleberry pie for Christmas party. The store lacked the required berries, but they had a raspberry/blackberry/blueberry mixture. Because of this substitution, I mislabeled the pie as Fruits of the Forest on my menu card. Fruits of the forest pie has more types of fruit in it than razzleberry does.

For awhile, Hubby worked at a restaurant known for its pies. The owner told him her secret. She made the filling the night before she baked the pie. While it sat, it made its own sauce. I couldn’t let it stand overnight, but I waited as long as I could before I baked my pies. She was right. The berries were floating in lovely syrup.

My mother made excellent pie crusts. Even though I have always made good quick breads, I was terrified to make pie crusts. I have eaten many rock-hard crusts and didn’t want to make one myself. She always told me not to overmix the dough. Using lard as a binder makes the flakiest crust, but lard is a certified artery-clogger.

Mary’s Pie Crust

Recipe as printer-friendly PDF
Ingredients:
2 C. flour
1 t. salt
2/3 C. plus 1-2 T. shortening
1-7 T. water

Method:
Stir together flour and salt. Cut in shortening until dough forms pea-size chunks. Add water a tablespoon at a time until dough clumps. Roll to desired size and put into pie plate. If pie recipe calls for baked shell, bake at 450º for 12-15 minutes.

Yield:
Makes 1 single-crust pie shell.