[Sca-cooks] Pillsbury pie crusts

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Phlip wrote:
>Two things to make pie crusts come out right-- make sure the fat is VERY
>chilled, just soft enough to work into the flour mix, and _don't_ over work
>it. Pie crusts, and many pastries, unlike other flour based concoctions such
>as bread and cakes, don't benefit from being mixed within an inch of their
>lives- their internal structure, the thing that makes them flaky, relies on
>there being a bit of butter next to a bit of dough.

I couldn't cook as a teenager and I barely passed home ec. (a 
required course for girls in the early 1960s in my jr. high) because 
i couldn't sew either. I dropped out of college in 1967 after 
participating in the huge anti-Vietnam War March on the Pentagon, and 
got a job and an apartment, living on spaghetti and tuna salad for 
months.

A date took sheltered Midwestern me to an Indian restaurant, where i 
specified i wanted the food "hot". After a transcendent experience (i 
felt like my head had exploded and i honestly saw nothing but white 
light for a few seconds), i began buying cook books, cooking a 15 
dish Indian meal a few weeks later for two other friends, including 
canning hot lemon pickle and mango chutney, and i'd never done any 
canning nor had anyone in my house growing up.

Then i tried making pie, because my grandmother had made good pies on 
the rare occasions she visited us. I had no recipe, just knew it was 
mostly butter and flour. So, being uninformed and inexperienced, i 
melted the butter, poured it into the flour, then kneaded for a 
goodly time. I rolled it out and put it in the pan. I don't recall if 
i blind baked it or filled it with fruit and baked it. But the result 
was a rich flaky crust, not at all tough. I guess the pastry gods 
were watching over me that evening.

I've never tried that again. I've pretty much followed "the rules", 
although I did like the crusts i made using half cold-pressed sesame 
oil mixed with half softened butter ahead of time and chilled, then 
worked it into the flour with forks or knives. Don't ask for details, 
the brain cells that were there then are long gone.

I have purchased frozen pie crusts for my feasts, being sure they are 
vegetarian. The brand i prefer is Nancy's.

But since helping Elizabeth make the crusts for St. Cecilia's feast, 
i may try making them and freezing them next time. Two people and a 
food processor can really crank them out.

Around the time of my Indian feast, i bought some fabric and 
patterns, altered the patterns to make what i wanted and completely 
hand sewed a pair of wool trousers and a moire shirt with a "Nehru" 
collar, long sleeves with a very gathered sleeve cap, and a button 
opening along the shoulder. My ignorance and inexperience haven't 
stopped me yet with my cooking and costuming.

Anahita