Pie Crust

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 1/3 cups flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2-3 tablespoons cold water

Directions

1. 1

   Cut shortening into flour and salt until it has pea sized lumps. Sprinkle in cold water 1 tb at a time, tossing with a fork until flour is moistened and pastry almost clears side of bowl.

2. 2

   Gather pastry into a ball, shape into flattened round on lightly floured board. Roll out evenly with floured rolling pin to two inches larger than inverted pie pan. Trim if necessary.

3. 3

   Fold pastry into quarters, align point with center of pie pan and unfold. Press into corners and crimp the edges.

4. 4

   For one crust pie, fill and bake as directed. For blind baked pie shell, prick bottom with fork and bake at 475 degrees F for 8-10 minutes, until lightly brown and cool before filling. For two crust pie, make a double batch, fill pie and lay other crust over top, crimping edges of two crusts together (be sure to cut slits in top for steam).

5. 5

   Tip: to keep crimped edges from excessive browning, cover with strips of foil until the last 15 minutes of baking.