Pie Dough Pleasures And Passions: Passing Down Holiday Traditions To Children

My earliest memories of playing with pie dough are of being with my great-aunt in her antiquated kitchen in her old, Chicago apartment. Relatives say my aunt was a nervous woman, but she doted on me with such interested patience that the world always stopped for the hours we played together in her kitchen. I suppose she actually made pies that we ate while my brother and I alongside made pies that we didn't. We rolled and crafted and sculpted the scraps of her pie dough, sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar, and then baked them with the pride of state-fair winners.

Her sister, my grandmother, also had a passion for pie baking, but her passion served a different purpose. My uncle laughs that he could always tell when his mother was mad because she'd be rolling pie dough. And I remember once seeing her constructively venting her anger on the malleable, submissive dough. What other medium allows one to beat it with a large, wooden club, and squish it until paper thin? If the rage is not exhausted with one pie, dough can quickly be mixed and rolled anew. And when all is done, what better way to say "I'm sorry" and make up than with a fresh-baked, homemade pie?

I began baking pies to eat when I was in high school. My aunt's daughter-in-law gave me a recipe called "Fool-proof pie dough", and it is fool-proof, -always easy to work with, always bakes up flaky and light. I've since tried other pie dough recipes and can understand why pie dough has a bad reputation for being difficult. I always come back to the fool-proof recipe and am not surprised that it is very similar to the pie dough recipe used by national championship pie-baking winner, Helen Myhre. Click on "continue reading..." for the recipe and to see how I'm passing down pie-dough traditions to my children.

I have no clue where my aunt got this recipe, so unfortunately I cannot give any particular chef credit. But here's the recipe for fool-proof pie dough:

• 4 cups flour (not instant or self-rising). Lightly spooned into cup
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 3/4 cups shortening (not refrigerated; use Crisco in a can, - NOT oil, lard, margarine, or butter)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 Tablespoon white or cider vinegar
• 1 large egg

"In large bowl, stir together with fork flour, sugar, and salt; cut in shortening with fork until crumbly. In small bowl, beat together water, vinegar and egg; add to flour mixture and stir until all ingredients are moistened. Divide dough into 5 portions and, with hands, shape each into flat round patty ready for rolling. Wrap each patty in plastic or waxed paper and chill at least 1/2 hour. When you are ready to use the pie crust, lightly flour both sides of the patty and roll out on lightly floured board or pastry cloth. If possible, cover rolling pin with stockinette and rub in a little four. Keeping pastry round, roll from center to 1/8-inch thickness and 2 inches larger than inverted pie pan. Fold in halves or quarters, transfer to pie pan, un-fold, and fit in loosely. Press with finger to remove air pockets. Fill, flute edge and bake as directed in individual recipe, using top crust if called for. You can prevent soggy bottom crust by baking pie on lowest rack in oven at temperature specified in individual recipe.

"For Bake Pie Shell - Prick bottom and sides of pastry-lined pie pan with fork. Bake on center rack in pre-heated 450 degree oven for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Pastry in aluminum pan may take a little longer than glass. Cool on wire rack. Shell will shrink and edges will pull away from pan. Fill as desired.

"Recipe makes two, 9-inch double crust pies and 1 pie shell or about 20 tart shells. Dough can be left in refrigerator for up to 3 days. It remains soft and can be taken out and rolled at once, or it can be frozen until ready to use, -thaw until soft enough to roll. Scraps can be re-rolled if necessary and crust will never be tough."

Yesterday was three days after may daughter and I made those pumpkin-filled cornucopias. I still had two pie dough patties in the 'fridge and a lot of left over, pumpkin-pie filling (Helen Myhre's recipe). I made a pumpkin pie with one of the patties and divided the other one in half.

I called my 10-year-old out of her reading nook to ask if she wanted to help craft pie-dough turkeys. Despite my earlier failures, I remained determined to bake pie dough, turkey statues. Always game for amusement in the kitchen, Lauren washed her hands and observed me fashion my new pie-dough invention. I showed her how I took a small bit of dough, rolled it smooth and warm into a round ball, and then pinched up one end into the "neck" of the "turkey". I made the "head" a tiny bit bigger than the "neck". Then I rolled the "turkey" in raw cane sugar mixed with cinnamon, and placed it on a baking pan sprayed with non-stick spray. Lauren quickly caught on and did me one better. The budding artist, who notices the world rather than mentally fabricating it as I do, gave her turkeys large, impressively-fanned tails. I realized I'd been making turkey hens with duck-like tails. So I followed her example and gave all my turkeys a sex change. 

We discussed the possibility that when baked at 350 degrees, our turkeys might falter from their stately, upright position. Lauren put it more bluntly and supposed they might melt and turn into blobs. I shrugged but didn't care much. We were having fun together and I was happy with my daughter and my turkeys as they were right now. Let come what may. I told Lauren that you can't always anticipate what's going to happen because so many factors come into play. She asked if that was typical of cooking. I told her it was typical of living.

Sure enough, our turkeys did melt when baked for 20 minutes. Rather than their "necks" standing upright, they lay backward, curved over their "backs". So I did what I tend to do with the rest of my life, I re-framed the situation and announced to Lauren that our turkeys were "sleeping". I called our recipe "putting the turkeys to bed". Lauren was satisfied; she'd had fun too and didn't much care what the turkeys looked like because regardless of appearance they tasted delicious. How simple a pleasure is baked pie dough sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar? 

So when you are bustling about in the kitchen, passing down your holiday-baking traditions to your children, I recommend remembering that it is your children whom you are fashioning, not the pie dough. Memories can taste so much sweeter than pie.

Comments

[oil paintings]

Excellent read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing a little research on that. And he actually bought me lunch because I found it for hi

[Amanda]

Thanks for stopping by and pausing to comment. My kids and I think pie dough is worlds better than play dough - BECAUSE WE CAN EAT IT!!!!!!

[Kaye Swain]

I popped in to visit from Boomers and Seniors: News You Can Use and thoroughly enjoyed your article. I'm so right there with you - in fact, I just wrote about something similar with my grandchildren and sugar cookies at SandwichINK. We've enjoyed creating and baking them the last two years. They are never perfect, but oh the sweet blessings and memories we've stored up! :)

I will DEFINITELY save your piecrust recipe for my kids who love to make pies and for me to enjoy molding with my grandchildren. Thank you . :) :) :)