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My husband is baking again! I am on a diet, sort of. So I am staying out of the kitchen and just smelling, and I have gained at least two pounds.

So anyway, a few minutes ago he was yelling that he didn’t have his pie crusts for his apple pie so he couldn’t make it, the apple pie that is. I said “why not make them yourself”, and you would think I grew two heads! “I don’t know how”, he says. As wonderful a baker as he is, he has never made pie crusts from scratch.

I am from a different era than most, as pie crust from scratch was the first thing I learned to make. I learned by watching my mother and grandmother. One of the first things I learned to make as a child was pie crust. My mother and grandmother always made it from scratch. There were no store bought pie crusts available. So if I wanted to learn how to make a pie, I had to learn the art of making a pie crust first. So here is how you make pie crust from scratch, in case you are like my husband and don’t know:

There is a taste and texture difference between store bought pie crusts and made from scratch. Making a pie crust from scratch is not as difficult as it may seem, and it tastes a whole lot better! There are a few tricks you need to learn to make the perfect pie crust. The first is having the correct balance of ingredients and the second is maintaining the correct temperature.

The ingredients are relatively easy to find in your kitchen: flour, “fat” and about 1/2 cup of cold water and a dash of salt.

The ratio is 2 parts flour to 1 part “fat”.

The fat can either be butter or Crisco, if you use butter be sure and cut back on the water as butter contains about 15% water to begin with. My mother always used Crisco, why? She never told me. I just use the ingredients she told me, because that is the way I was taught.

Whether you are using Crisco or butter remember to make sure they are cold, not room temperature. If it gets too warm while you are making the crust, the crust gets soggy! That is why you use only the coldest butter or water.

Start with the flour and salt by adding them to a bowl, form a hole in the middle of the flour and slowly cut in the “fat” with a knife or fork, adding small amounts of cold water as you go. DO NOT MIX!!! It should come together and form little pebbles, once all the flour is absorbed and you have formed a ball, then cover the mixture and put in the refrigerator at least a hour.

Flour your board, take half the dough and form an even ball on the board with your hands, if the dough feels sticky add small amounts of flour to the board and over the top of your ball. Do not overwork the dough, as it will become tough.

It make a few practice runs before you get it right, but believe me it is well worth the time and effort. You will never go back to store bought again.

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