Pie Crust  (Flaky)

(Makes enough for 2 crust pie)

2 2/3 cups all purpose flour   (unbleached is best because it gives the cooked crust a better color)

½ teaspoon salt

2 tbs. sugar

½ cup chilled vegetable shortening     (Crisco w/butter (yellow) is best…again for color)

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

3 tbs. ice water

1 egg

Combine flour, salt, sugar, shortening and butter in a bowl until it resembles coarse meal. Mix water and egg together, and add to dough mixture. Pull it all together with a fork until it forms a ball. Dough should be moist enough to stay together, but not too wet. It it’s too wet and sticky, just sprinkle some flour on it…that will dry it out and make it more manageable. Divide into 2 halves. Flatten into discs, cover with plastic wrap, and chill in refrigerator until ready to use. Roll out to fit the pie dish, so that it overlaps the edge of the dish about ½ inch. Pinch excess together on the rim of dish to form an edge. (Will keep in the refrigerator, covered in plastic wrap, for 1 to 2 days before using. It can also be frozen for several months … be sure to put it in freezer wrap.)

Helpful Hint: When rolling, place the dough on wax paper that has been sprinkled with flour. Also sprinkle some flour on top of the dough while you are rolling it. This helps prevent the dough from tearing and makes it easier to transfer the dough from the paper to the pie dish.

Apple Pie Filling  

3 to 3.5 lb. peeled / thinly sliced apples *

½ cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 tbs. instant tapioca

2 tbs. flour

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

¼ tsp. salt

Dash of mace

¼ tsp. cardamom

2 tbs. butter

1 tbs. lemon juice

Mix sugars, tapioca, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, mace, cardamom in a bowl. Cut in butter to form pea size pieces. Place sliced apples in large bowl & toss with sugar mixture. Add a little lemon juice to help the mixture coat the apples as you toss the apples and mixture together. Take bottom pie crust and line dish. Place apple mixture in dish, dot with some small pieces of butter. Cover with top crust. Pinch edges and slit the top, in several places, to make air vents. Bake in preheated over at 425 for 15 minutes, then lower to 375 and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour. If the top crust starts to get too brown during the baking, cover the top with aluminum foil during the baking. Pie is done when you push a knife through the vents on top, and the apples are soft…not crunchy.

* I like Gravenstein apples the best. Pippens, Granny Smiths, and Fugis also work well.                      ENJOY !!!