British Pie Week is March 7 – 13, 2022. I may not be British, but this is a holiday I can truly dig into.
Sweet or savory, I love pie! Can you think of a yummier food to celebrate? And we can celebrate all week long, if we want.
A few years ago, when we were newlyweds. Oh, wait. That may be more than a few years ago, but I digress.
We lived near an elderly lady who knew how to make sweet pies. Evelyn made the flakiest crust I’ve ever eaten. “Want to come for pie?” she asked.
Being young, hungry, and far from home, we readily accepted. “We’ll be right over!”
Her cherry pie was still warm from the oven. The only thing that pie needed was a tall glass of ice cold milk. Evelyn offered that as well. Mercy!
One day several months later, she called again. “The grape vines were loaded so I made grape pies. I just took them out of the oven. Want to come over?”
That sounded interesting, but as I said, we were always ready for her pies. “Sure. We’ll be right over!”
Once inside, Evelyn served us each a large slice of the warm pie. It looked as good as all the other pies she served. My mouth watered, but I politely waited until she had her slice. Then we dug in.
Wait. What is this?
Do you like grape preserves? How about a one inch glob of grape preserves in every bite? I struggled to swallow the sticky sweetness. It was as bad as if someone had opened a large jar, handed me a spoon, and said, “Have at it. Eat the whole 32 oz. jar. Isn’t it wonderful?”
Ugh! Not even the flaky crust could make up for the rich goo. I stared at my half finished serving and shuddered.
My husband politely, or should I say sneakily, mushed the pie around his plate—like a sneaky kid trying to get out of eating his peas—so it looked like he had eaten more than he had.
Since I never practiced that trick, I soldiered on. Back home, I lay on the couch and tried not to be sick.
I hope you find some pie to enjoy this week. But I would not recommend grape pie.
Feel free to tell me about your favorite pie in the comments below. Maybe you can top my story.
Until next time . . . Travel Light,
SuZan
© 2022 SuZan Klassen
SuZan Klassen 
Yes, just a few years ago you were newlyweds… HAHA!
Grape pie – does sound icky. Now cherry pie I LOVE!
So did you ever get her pie crust recipe?
I don’t think she had one. She was one of those ladies who just put things together. But since she was old-school, there is a very good chance her crust had lard in it. Don’t you think?
The pie crust I use has lard. I love it because it makes 5 to 6 crusts. You can put the unused portion in a bag in the frig and draw it out when you’re tempted to make a pie. Works like playdough. Yummy! Here’s the recipe.
Pie Crust-Never-fail Variety
Grandma Sally lived in south-west Missouri on a farm. Down the road and a half mile south, lived Bernice (pronounced Burn-nis, with the emphasis on burn). She always made lovely pies. Her crust was flakey and light. I’ve never had a piecrust fail with Bernice’s recipe. The crust rolls out like soft play dough, but tastes like a little bit of heaven.
When I made a pie for my mother, she’d take a bite, close her eyes, and say “Mmmm. Short.” I guess that was my mom’s way of saying the crust was deliciously flakey.
Directions:
Set oven at 450.
Mix together:
5 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoon brown sugar
1 lb (2 generous cups-I use about another half cup) lard (I use solid Crisco—not butter flavored.)
Mix these ingredients together with a pastry mixer or two forks until blended.
Then mix together:
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 egg, slightly beaten
Water to make up to ¾ cup
Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture. Mix it until it sticks together. Don’t handle the dough too much. It will make the crust tough. Form the dough into 5 balls. Keep out how many balls you need. Put the others in a Ziploc bag in the refrigerator to use later. You can store the unused portion up to a month.
Wet the counter slightly with a sponge and lay a waxed paper down. Lightly dust the waxed paper with flour and put the smashed ball on the paper. Put another waxed paper on top and roll out each crust. Peel off the top waxed paper. Place the pie pan upside down on the rolled out dough, grab a corner of the waxed paper and flip the pie pan with the dough. Now peel the waxed paper off the dough. Crimp the edges and bake at 450 degrees 10-12 minutes.
If you’re making a double-crust pie, roll out the first dough, then fill the pie with fruit,* and place a second crust on top. Crimp the top and bottom edges together. Bake according to pie recipe directions.
The less you handle the dough, the better it is.
*Fruit filling
This recipe can be used for any fruit filling.
3 cups fresh berries
2/3 to 1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch or 4 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon butter.
Line a 9-inch pie plate with pastry; fill with berries. Mix sugar, cornstarch, and a dash of salt; sprinkle over fruit. Dot with butter; adjust top crust. Bake at 400 degrees 40 to 50 minutes.
Wow! Thank you for sharing, Sally. I’m sure others will appreciate your recipe. I notice you use lard. Evelyn would be proud of you and would approve of “Burn – nis.”
If you use a gluten free baking flour, add 3 eggs to Sally Jadlow’s crust recipe.
Good tip. Thank you for thinking of all those who need gluten-free recipes and/or adjustments to traditional recipes.