Make Your Own Pie Crust!

This year we brought two of pumpkin pies to Thanksgiving!  We used my daddy's award-winning variation to the classic Libby's pumpkin pie recipe AND I decided to make my own pie dough this year too!  It's so easy!  Make the dough up to a week ahead of time, keep it in the fridge, and then just roll it out right before you mix up your filling.  It turned out so good!  I will never buy frozen pie crust again!

Recipe and pie crust tutorial found on smittenkitchen.com.

INGREDIENTS (for 2 pie crusts)
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces, 16 tablespoons or 1 cup) unsalted butter, very cold

DIRECTIONS
Fill a one cup liquid measuring cup with water, and drop in a few ice cubes; set it aside.

In a large bowl — I like to use a very wide one, so I can get my hands in — whisk together 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon of salt.

Dice two sticks (8 ounces or 1 cup) of very cold unsalted butter into 1/2-inch pieces. Get out your pastry blender.

Sprinkle the butter cubes over the flour and begin working them in with the pastry blender, using it to scoop and redistribute the mixture as needed so all parts are worked evenly. When all of the butter pieces are the size of tiny peas — this won’t take long — stop.

Start by drizzling 1/2 cup of the ice-cold water (but not the cubes, if there are any left!) over the butter and flour mixture. Using a rubber or silicon spatula, gather the dough together. You’ll probably need an additional 1/4 cup of cold water to bring it together, but add it a tablespoon as a time. Once you’re pulling large clumps with the spatula, take it out and get your hands in there Gather the disparate damp clumps together into one mound, kneading them gently together.

Divide the dough in half, and place each half on a large piece of plastic wrap. I like to use the sides to pull in the dough and shape it into a disk. Let the dough chill in the fridge for one hour, but preferably at least two, before rolling it out.

DADDY'S PUMPKIN PIE RECIPE (makes 2 pies)

Basically, just take the recipe on the back of the Libby's Pumpkin can and zest a medium sized orange into the batter.  I don't think this is actually a secret recipe, but it's delicious.

INGREDIENTS
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1 (29 oz.) can Libby's solid pack pumpkin
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
2 (13 oz.) cans evaporated milk or 3 1/4 c. half and half
2 (9") unbaked homemade pie shells with high fluted edge

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine filling ingredients in order given; divide evenly into pie shells. Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees.

Reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake an additional 45 minutes or until knife inserted near center of each pie comes out clean. Cool and serve with freshly whipped cream.   mmmm....