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"  I&amp;#039;ve been circling warily around this entry for a while now because I was nowhere near the kitchen when this pie was being assembled. Yes, I got out all the ingredients at the beginning and took the pie out of the oven at the end, but that was the extent of my involvement. My husband&amp;#039;s mom is the Pie Queen, so when he requested pie for his birthday instead of cake she was the natural person for the job. This is a source of some jealousy for me, because I can make cake but am an awkward pie baker. That&amp;#039;s why whenever the Pie Queen is around, I try to get a tutorial; almost always, scheduling gets in the way. I think also that my mother-in-law is a solo baker and can&amp;#039;t really understand how we would bake a pie together. So it&amp;#039;s trial-and-error for me if I ever want to roll a mean crust.  She did, however, give me her recipe and some tips on how she makes her meltingly tender crust. First you assemble the filling so it can sit for a while before it goes into the pie: 10 apples (Granny Smith, golden delicious, Macintosh), peeled and thinly sliced. Toss with \u00BE cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, \u00BD teaspoon cinnamon and 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg. While that&amp;#039;s macerating, it&amp;#039;s crust time. Mix 2 cups flour with 1 teaspoon salt, then use a pastry blender to cut in 2/3 cup shortening. Have ready 2 to 3 tablespoons ice water, then dribble it into the flour mixture, using a fork to toss in as much as you need to make it lump together. Pull it together without handling it too much, divide into 2 equal parts and put one lump on a pastry mat dusted lightly with flour. Use the side of your hand to press down in an X shape on top of the lump, then roll out slightly larger than your pie plate with a rolling pin sheathed in a pin cover (to keep the dough from sticking). Fold the crust gently in half, transfer to the pie plate, unfold and press into the plate. Repeat rolling out for the top crust, and when it&amp;#039;s ready to go put the apple mixture in the bottom crust. Fold the top crust gently in half, cut steam vents in the folded edge, then place over apples and crimp the edges to seal.  Cover the edges of the pie with strips of foil to keep them from getting too brown. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes, take foil off and bake for another 25 minutes.  I confess, we had taco salad again for dinner that night (it&amp;#039;s a favorite around here), but any comforting family meal would do. How about a ham and lentil stew, followed up with this awesome-sounding apple pie with a Cheddar crust? Ham and Lentil Stew  Apple Cider Pie with Cheddar Crust  It seems like every crust maker has his or her own tricks. What are your secrets? \u2014 Kim Walker  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/food-recipes/a43975/apple-pie-5229/?src=shelter_footer>