"The wife is like the fire, or to put things in their proper proportion, the fire is like the wife.
Like the fire, the woman is expected to cook: not to excel in cooking, but to cook,

.... be a cook, but not a competitive cook,

a school mistress, but not a competitive schoolmistress; a house-decorator but not a competitive house-decorator, etc...
She should have not one trade but twenty hobbies; she... may develop all her second bests.


Women were not kept at home in order to keep them narrow;
on the contrary, they were kept at home in order to keep them broad.
"

G.K. Chesterton, What's Wrong with the World?

November 15, 2013

My Favorite Pie Crust Recipe

Since Thanksgiving is around the corner and I know everyone loves baking pies (Come on, you know you do! ;), I thought it fitting to share the crust recipe I've been using for years now.  I went through many recipes that I thought were the best until I found this one, and I've never looked back.  It rolls out like elastic every time. (Make sure you do the "chilling" step.  It make a big difference in the roll-out ease.)



It's from the The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen cookbook.  It makes four crusts, for two pies.
Everything I have made out of this cookbook has turned out really scrumptious.



"Grandma's Pie Dough"
4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 3/4 c cold unsalted butter (3 1/2 sticks), cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 large egg
Combine the flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl.  Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  Whisk the vinegar, egg, and 1/2 cup of ice water together and mix into the flour mixture with your hands until just combined.  Transfer to a clean work surface, and gently press to form a dough.  Divide the dough into 4 equal parts.  Shape each into a ball, flatten slightly to form a disk, and wrap into plastic.  Chill for at least an hour.  Roll out as indicated in your recipe.


You could make the dough in a food processor, using the pulse feature, or in a Kitchen Aid stand mixer with the paddle attachment, or the good old fashioned method, with a pastry cutter, or two knives.  I've done all four methods.  They all work, just some are more work than others.

It's always nice to have "helpers" with the apples too -


Enjoy!