Pie Crust

(from happyendings’s recipe box)

One trick is to keep everything cold—-ice water, a cold rolling pin (mine is marble), and even cold Crisco is best. Once you make it, flatten it into 2 disks before you refrigerate it, so you don’t have to roll it so much. Getting the right thickness just takes practice. I tend to leave the middle too thick. Roll from the middle, and go like you’re on the 12-6-2-8-4-10 hands of the clock to keep it even. It takes some practice to get the circle to come out well. They make a utensil to cut the fat in; otherwise use a fork. Some people put the salt in the water so it’s evenly distributed, but it doesn’t dissolve well in cold water, so I’m not a fan of that method. Then get one of the rings to put around it while it bakes; otherwise the edge tends to get too brown. It also takes practice getting the amount of flour on the board right to keep it from sticking; you don’t want too much or too little. I sprinkle some on the dough disk, and some on the rolling cloth/board. I had a recipe that called for lemon juice, but I’ve read that makes the dough tough, so I don’t use it anymore. Even Julia Child says it’s easy to do in a food processor, but I seem to have trouble with that. The rule is that too much fat makes it weak and leaky, too little makes it cracker-like and tough.

Source: Mom