Mom’s Home-made Apple Pie

It is true. Nobody make apple pie like mom.

I have used her recipe many times.

Crust for a 2-crust pie:

1 cup Crisco shortening (or 3/4 cup lard)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups flour

6 Tablespoons cold water

Mix these ingredients; divide into 3 balls. If they seem sticky, add flour to get the desired texture. If they are too dry to roll out nicely, add a teaspoon of water and mix till the texture is more pliable.

Roll out 2 balls, one at a time, onto a floured surface. Roll out dough to a 10-11 inch circle. Fold the circle in half and in half again. This 1/4-size transfers easily into the pie plate. Position it so that the point made by the 2 folds is centered in the pie plate. Unfold it. Roughly trim edges and fill in empty spots with extra dough, if needed.

Add the filling. (See below for Apple filling.) Dot with butter.

Prepare the second pie crust. When folded in fourths, use the rounded edge of a spoon to cut 3 slits on the folded edges. These will serve as steam vents as the pie bakes. Top the pie with this folded pie crust. Again roughly trim the excess pie crust from the edge of the top pie crust. Patch the top crust if needed with these excess amounts of pie dough. Pinch the edges of the 2 crusts together.

Sprinkle the top crust with a generous amount of sugar and cinnamon, to taste. (If you have excess amounts of scraps from the 2 crusts, you may make them into a small ball and roll out. Put it on an ungreased cookie sheet and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes and you will have a treat to enjoy.)

Bake the pie at 350° for 50 min. or until the crust is lightly browned and the filling shows thick bubbling.

NOTE: The 3rd ball of crust is unused. Flatten the ball into a 1-inch thick circle. Put into a freezer bag and freeze. The next time you make a 1-crust pie, thaw it and you are ready to go!