Jill's Pie Crust

Source: Jill Barr, a neighbor of mine growing up and a pie-making extraordinaire

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening
4-5 Tablespoons cold water

Directions:

Add flour and salt.  Blend in 2/3 cup of shortening.  Then add the last 1/3 cup shortening and blend.  Add water one tablespoon at a time.  Mix with a fork.  Form into a ball of dough.  Divide.  Leave in bowl.  Makes two singles (smallish ones – for my 9.5” single crust there was some left over, but not enough to warrant me only making half the recipe).  Roll out and bake at 400° for about 8 minutes (unless you're cooking your pie and your crust at the same time, obviously).

Notes:

I decided to make pumpkin pie for Valentine's Day.  Yeah, not sure how they really go together, unless you count the fact that my love happens to love all kinds of pie, including pumpkin, and I had a can of pumpkin in the cupboard since Christmas when I was planning to make pumpkin pie, but didn't get around to it.  And, I just really had a hankering for pumpkin pie. And it happened to be Valentine's Day.  So, in that context, it totally makes sense.  I realized upon making said pumpkin pie that I had never, up til that point, made a whole pie by myself.  I was quite pleased and proud with the results.  A tasty treat that we enjoyed for a few days.  Now that's love.

A note to the non-shortening users in the Blanchard family: I know you've got a great oil crust recipe, and I know there are butter recipes out there in the world.  I just decided to use this one with shortening on this occasion and decided to post it here for my future reference and in case there are others who do use shortening who happen to read this blog.  :)

One more note: with the leftover crust, I decided to be festive and cut out some heart shapes using cookie cutters.  I sprinkled them generously with cinnamon sugar and popped them on a cookie sheet in the oven while the pie was baking for about 20 minutes (I think at that point the oven was at 350 degrees?).

Susan's Apple Pie

Source: Susan Clement, Mom's neighbor

Ingredients:
1 uncooked pie crust (top and bottom)
about one quart of canned apples (drained) or 4-5 apples, peeled, sliced, and boiled in sugared water until soft.
2-3 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
5 slices of butter (1/2 - 1 tablespoon each)
1/4 cup milk + 1-2 tablespoons

Directions:
1. Drain the apples and put in the bottom crust
2. Sprinkle flour over the apple slices.
3. Mix sugar and cinnamon. Pour all but 2-3 tablespoons over the apple slices.
4. Stir apples slightly to pull flour and sugar/cinnamon throughout the pie.
5. Dot apples with butter. Pour 1/4 cup milk over the top.
6. Add your top crust and seal edge as desired.
7. Wet the top crust with milk and sprinkle heavily with remaining cinnamon/sugar mixture. Cut vent slices in the top crust.
8. Bake at 350 F until crust is golden brown.

Notes: This is the amazing apple pie that I make for Thanksgiving each year. It's so simple and oh so delicious! All of the measurements are approximate, so just eyeball it as you go.

Easy Apple Pie

Source: Gregg, via this site

Ingredients:
2 9 inch pie crusts, one for the top and one for the bottom (Gregg is the official crust maker and he uses his mom's oil pastry recipe)
1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
dash salt
2 Tablespoons butter
6 cups apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (We used 5 medium-sized Galas and it worked perfectly)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425F. Mix sugar, cinnamon, flour, nutmeg and salt. Stir in apples. (We have found that sort of tossing/mixing with your hands and then pouring from one bowl to the next is the best way to get it all mixed.) Place pie into crust. Dot with butter. Cover with top crust and slit evenly to let steam escape. Seal the top crust to the bottom by pinching the edges together. Cover edge of crust with a 2-3" strip of aluminum foil. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until crust is brown and juices begin to bubble through top. (We baked for 30 minutes, then removed the foil and finished baking for 10 more minutes.)

Notes:
Gregg loves pie. And this apple pie has yet to let him (or me) down. He's the crust maker. I've started helping out by prepping the apples. I like to think we make a good team. :)