Pie Crust Tutorial & F.C.t.C. Pear Pie

F.C.t.C. Pear Pie made with Classic  Pie Crust.... crust tutorial below

Yesterday my family went to dinner at Village Inn after church... it was yummy as always but there was one thing that totally shocked me right to tears!  I seriously couldn't believe how many pink "pie reservation" slips were in their glass case. I thought to myself, "seriously, people don't make their own pies for Thanksgiving? Really?  It's not hard... geez I wish I was making all those pies {and all that extra money}!"  So, I decided to throw together a quick tutorial on how to make a simple pie crust.  This pie was finished in 1 hr from start to finish... You have an hour, don't you?  And of course, if you're making cream pies, it can take sooooo much less time.  I hope this helps you all get over your "pie making phobia"....

Classic Pie Crust

original recipe from Crisco

printable recipe

8-9- or 10-inch Single Crust

1 1/3 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter flavored crisco

3 Tbsp cold water

8- or 9-inch Double Crust

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup butter flavored crisco

5 Tbsp cold water

10-inch Double Crust

2 2/3 cup flour

1 tsp salt

1 cup butter flavored crisco

7-8 Tbsp cold water

For Pie Dough: spoon flour into measuring cup and level.  Combine flour and salt in medium bowl.  Cut in shortening using pastry blender or 2 knives until all flour is blended to form pea-sized chunks.  Sprinkle with water, 1 Tbsp at a time.  Toss lightly with your hands until dough will form a ball. 

For single crust:  Press dough between hands to form 5- to 6-inch pancake.  Roll out dough on lightly floured surface until desired size.  Place in pan, fold edges, and flute. For recipes using a baked pie crust, heat oven to 425 degrees.  Prick bottom and sides thoroughly with fork (50 times) to prevent shrinkage.  Bake 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned.  For recipes using an unbaked pie crust, follow baking directions given in that recipe!

For Double Crust:  divide dough in half.  Roll each half separately as described above.  Transfer bottom crust to pie plate. Add desired filling and place top crust over filling.  Cut a 1/2-inch margin around pan and roll your crust and flute the edges.  Cut slits in top crust to allow steam to escape.  Bake according to specific recipe directions.

F.C.t.C. Pear Pie

A From Cupboard to Cupboard Original

2 large cans of pears, sliced

1/2-3/4 cup sugar

3 Tbsp Tapioca

pinch of salt

2 tsp cinnamon

Slice your pears and place in a medium sized bowl... add remaining ingredients and stir well.  Place in prepared (with bottom crust) pie pan... top with crust. Flute edges.  Cut decorations in top for steam to escape.  Lightly dust with sugar.  Bake @ 425 for 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Enjoy warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

to use up all those little extra scraps of dough:

make a ball with all the scraps of dough and knead them in your hand to combine them.  Roll them out on a lightly floured surface to about the same thickness as you did for your pies... sprinkle cinnamon/sugar on the dough then using a knife or pizza cutter, cut into strips.  Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 425 until lightly browned.  These are my kids' favorite! We call them lady fingers....

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, my friends!

Happy Cooking!

Teauna