Life Lessons in a Pie

I've always been kind of old fashioned and like many women I set the bar high when I first got married to what kind of homemade meals should be put on the table on a daily basis by my willing hands.  Time out while I let you in on a secret:  Before I left school for college I had all of made about 2 meals in my life which consisted of macaroni and cheese in a box, and spaghetti (aka boil noodles and add a jar of sauce :)  I quickly became disappointed that no knowledge of cooking left for a pretty disappointing, unrealistic reality, not too mention the fact that my husband is a real chef.  I was already a failure before I even tried to cook!

Well I finally started to get over the whole fear of not being the best at cooking in our home and finally started appreciating the resource I was married to.  I still have so much to learn but I can say my ability in the kitchen far exceeds my macaroni and cheese days, but I am far from chef status as well!  Well I started making somewhat of a bucket list in my mind...you know the "Things I Must Do Before I Die" type of list and on that list was "Make a Homemade Pie."  Terrifying.  I know.  I loathed the thought.  The only women I knew who made homemade pies were much older than I.  No one my age (at least that I knew) did such a thing.  All I ever heard about was how hard it was too make a homemade pie and that they all resorted to using premade piecrusts.  This made my heart sad.  Do I need to have a homemade pie crust?  No, but knowing that I would never try based on fear was really saddening to me and so I went to the best resource I know.  My mother-in-law.  She makes a pretty amazing pie and I know how much she loves baking and to be honest I really love hanging out with her.  She has one of the most beautiful hearts of any women I know and I am so blessed to call her my mom (my second one at that!).  So without further ado, I give you the "Never Fail Pie Crust" generously given to me by Dave's mama, which she learned from her own mama "Granny Smith." (don't miss my closing words at the bottom...I have a challenge I don't want  you to miss!)

Never Fail Pie Crust

                                                                    By Granny Smith 

3 cups flour

1 1/4 cup shorterning

1 tsp salt

1 egg beaten

7 Tbsp water

1 Tbsp vinegar

1.  Cut shortening into the flour and salt.

it should look like this....

2.  Combine egg, water and vinegar in separate bowl. 

3.  Pour the liquid into flour mixture all at once.

4.  Blend with spoon just until flour is all moistened.

5.  Shape into ball and wrap with saran wrap.

6.  Let dough sit wrapped in refrigerator for 15-20 minutes.  

7.  Now you are ready to roll out your pie crust.

8.  Sprinkle plenty of flour onto your counter top and place dough ball

in the middle.  Sprinkle some more flour on the dough 

so it won't stick to your rolling pin (you can be pretty liberal

with the amount of flour)

9.  Roll your rolling pin back and forth in one direction a few times and then go back and forth a few times the other direction like you are rolling out a repeated "X" on your dough (see pictures below).

10.  Rolling your dough this way will help you to make a large circle/square of flattened dough instead of one long piece.  You need to roll it out so its wide enough to fit the diameter of your pie plate with a little excess.

11.  My mother in law was being my photographer so she wanted to catch one of me in there too :) 

12.  Hold your pie plate over the area once in awhile to make 

sure the dough is large enough to cover the pie plate.

 13.  Once your dough is a wide enough diameter to fully cover your pie plate you need to carefully take both hands and gently work them under one half of your pie dough, fully supporting the underside of that half, then bring it over and gently lay it on top of the other half of the dough like in the picture below (you may need to use a spatula or something to help you lift the dough carefully off the counter).

14.  Now you will fold the dough in 1/4 piece, again be very careful and gentle or you can rip the dough.  Fully support your sides at all times or the weight of the dough will rip itself.

15.  Now take your folded up 1/4 size pie dough and lay it in your pie plate only 

covering 1/4 of the plate (see picture below).

16.  Continue to gently unfold your pie dough onto your pie plate so its covering half of the plate.

17.  Then take your last half of the dough and cover the other half of your pie plate.

18.  Fully covered pie plate!  Just smoothing out the edges and

        gently pressing the dough into the seams of the pie plate.

19.  Cut off the excess edge of your pie crust with a knife (using a sharp one prevents it from tearing).

20.  Then pinch edges or use other design tools (you could use some sort of cool decorating stamp or just use a fork....I always just pinch).

There you have it!  A  ready to fill pie crust!  You don't need to bake this crust before filling and this crust can be used  with any type of pie filling.  Just follow the instructions on your chosen pie recipe and bake accordingly.  And just for kicks here is a picture of me taken over 2 years ago when I made my very first pie with my mother in law.  You can't really tell but I am about 17 or 18 weeks pregnant with Abbie here.  

My challenge to you this holiday season is to try something new.  What have you always wanted to do but are just too afraid to try?  Fear of failure standing in your way?  What about the fear of not being perfect which always just keeps you from trying?  God does not desire for us to live in fear.  He wants us to fully breath in his goodness.  2 Timothy 1:7(ESV) says:

"For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self control."

What is fear holding you back from today friends?  Whether it be as simple as being too afraid to bake a homemade pie, or it's letting go of the fear of failure in finally pursuing your God given passion, it's time to let go, and let God.  Step out in faith sweet friends and really breath in the goodness God has for you!

Blessings,