une recette secrete

It has been a tradition that for Valentine's day I bake my husband a pie. Actually, it has been a while since he has gotten a homemade pie for this holiday. The last few years, due to my work schedule, Marie Callendar had to step in and help me out. This year, however, I determined to transition into my retirement years by developing some old culinary habits, which include pie baking.

Rollie's preferred pie of choice is rhubarb. Normally I am able to find rhubarb this time of year, but, alas, no rhubarb to be found in the local stores, so I made him an apple pie. Marie has rhubarb on the menu, but Rollie wanted a pie made with my pie crust, one that Marie cannot even rival. My whole family will attest to this.

The reason for my successful pie crusts is due to a secret family recipe. At least, that is what I tell people when they ask me how I make such good pies. My maternal grandmother, "Grandma Bertha", had a recipe for pie crust, which, of course, my mother used and passed on to me. As a young newlywed, I tried making good pie crust, but it was never quite right, until my mom gave me the "secret recipe". I have never had a bad pie crust since. My daughters both use this pie crust recipe when baking pies and I hear from their husbands that they turn out some pretty great pies.

I have decided, however, to no longer keep this recipe a secret. It deserves to be shared, but WARNING! Whenever I have shared this recipe with someone who is not family, it doesn't work. A few years ago, a good friend of mine was lamenting that she just couldn't make good pie crust, so I broke the silence and gave her the recipe. She called me to say that all she got was a glob of very gooey dough. Hmm! Perhaps you need to have the right genes. I am going to post the recipe as a test. If you turn out with great pie crust, we will need to pull out our genealogy, because, for sure, we must have some common DNA. Bad pie crust? Must be a curse.

Below you will find the recipe for "Grandma Bertha's Pie Crust". Before I post the recipe, however, I would like to post a picture of my grandmother whose pie making legacy lives on.

Merci grandmaman! (Grandma Bertha with her second husband, Gerry)

Grandma Bertha's Pie Crust Recipe

Begin with:

1 1/2 cup shortening

3 cups sifted flour

1 tsp salt

Cut together until fine crumbs. Beat an egg yolk in a 1/2 measure cup. Add 1 T vinegar and fill cup with cold water. Beat egg and vinegar before adding water. ( You should now have 1/2 cup liquid). Make a well in flour mixture and pour in liquid. Stir until well mixed. May be worked with hands. Keeps well in the refrigerator. This pie crust makes enough dough for the top and bottom of a nine inch pie. Fill with your filling of choce and bake as directed for whatever pie filling you have chosen.

Here is Rollie's current Valentine pie. Looks delicious!

And now, Rollie has offered to share some of his pie with me, so -- Pardonnez-moi!

PS. The French connection: The French don't put crust on the top of their apple pies, and the apples are arranged in beautiful concentric circles, which makes one not want to disturb the superb artwork of the chef. Maybe one day I will try that, when I have LOTS of time.

PPS: Perhaps I will find among the readers of this post a new family connection. Just perhaps.