Just wanted to comment on pie crust. I’ve tasted and seen on TV (food shows) pie crusts that are so thick! On EVERY cooking show, they tell you to refrigerate the dough before rolling for ease and flakiness. In my opinion, that’s poppy cock!
Over fifty years ago, when my parents first got married, she made a pie for supper. The crust was so thick that my dad ACTUALLY held it up with his empty coffee cup and laughed. My mother was so insulted that she vowed then and there that she would learn how to make the best pie crust ever!
And boy, did she ever! Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, who tastes her pies or buttertarts feel as if they’ve “gone to heaven”! LOL Her crust is so light and flaky; not too flaky that it really falls apart at EVERY bit, it’s just right. And my point is…she NEVER refrigerates her dough. She says that you have to “work fast” with your dough and not touch it too much, and all your ingredients have to be cold. She also doesn’t roll it as thick as you see on the cooking shows. On those shows it looks like there’s just as much crust as filling! LOL
In my opinion, I think she’s right. The first time I made a blueberry/raspberry pie, I was in a real hurry. Family members were getting ready to leave for home (4-5 hour drive) and I decided that I wanted to serve them a nice blueberry pie before they left. My brother-in-law asked if I was sure that I had enough time. I said, no problem! The dough was made, rolled, filled and ready to be baked so fast! I couldn’t believe how tender and flaky the crust turned out. It was the best pie I’ve ever made because I hardly handled it because I had to hurry up. I’ve tried to do the same since, but it’s hard to replicate. I’m not a pie maker…baker, I am…but not with pies!
People who have tasted her pies/tarts have asked for my mother’s pie crust recipe only to be told, it’s from the Crisco Shortening box. They always say that that’s the recipe they use but it don’t taste like my mother’s. Then I have to tell them that it’s the way she handles her dough…and she doesn’t refrigerate it at all. You just have to “work fast” and make sure that ALL your ingredients are COLD.
Anyway…just wanted to share this little bit of info.
Aline