Pie Crust
Cleaning out my kitchen has given me lots of time to think. When was the last time I took everything out of all the cupboards? Well, my house is over 50 years old, although we didn't move here until the early 1960's. We did get new cupboards over 30 years ago so everything was taken out then. About 15 years ago I took all the doors off and refinished them but everything did not come out then. Sure, every so often I take things out of one or two of them and clean and sort a little but this time I'm doing all the cupboards. And I do have a lot of them, but I'm not complaining about that. I'm not emptying all of them at once but I will get them all done. Please, oh please, I will get them all done. I think I am over half way there. Please, oh please let half of them be done. I thought I could throw out or give away a lot of contents. Actually, there doesn't seem to be that much. I did get rid of about half of the canned food, all of which was outdated and some of which was way outdated.

I've been also thinking about some of the contents. In the big drawer, I have so many things. Some are very modern and some very old. These items bring back memories. Yes, I used to make donuts. The best ones were made in the fall with fresh apple cider. I shouldn't eat these deep fried delights any more and I can buy them at the orchard. I can't even remember the last time I made noodles with my mother's noodle cutter. The Amish noodles I can buy are almost as good. This is definitely not true of pie crusts. I've always made good pies. I remember I won an award in my High School Home Economics class for my pie crust. At that time I made them by the hot water method. Boiling water was beaten into the Crisco and then the flour was added. I've tried other methods over the years but for many years now I've used the recipe containing an egg. It is fail-proof. Sometimes I put the crust in a cookie sheet with raised edges and when baked I add the lemon or chocolate filling and top them with meringue or whipped cream. This is an easy way to make a lot of pie. I also use it for regular pies. I used to freeze fruit pie fillings. I'd prepare the fresh peach, apple, blueberry or cherry filling in a bowl but instead of putting it in the crust to bake, I'd put it in the empty pie pan and freeze it. When frozen, I'd take it out of the pan and wrap it and back into the freezer it went. When I wanted to make a pie, I'd make the crust and add the frozen fruit mixture and walla - fresh homemade pie. This is my great pie crust recipe:
4 cups of flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoons sugar
1 3/4 cups Crisco
1/2 cup water
1 large egg
1 Tablespoon vinegar
Mix the salt and sugar with the flour and cut in the Crisco. Then add the beaten egg that has been mixed with the water and vinegar. You can roll this out over and over and it never gets tough. Bake at 400 - 425 degrees (depends on your oven) for 10 minutes. It also makes a great top for Sheppard's pie or dough for pasties.