Bake Bake Bake!

I can't explain why I fear pie crust, but I'm sure it has something to do with my mother. She would go on and on and on about how important it was that a pie crust be light and flaky. So, of course, the first time I made a pie crust it was heavy and dense. For years I only used store bought pie crust and I hated it. So I rarely made pies.

But then I came across Sylvia's Perfect Pie Crust from Pioneer Woman. (And I would be happy to give you a link, but it is not linked from Tasty Kitchen. I'll send it along if you so desire.) And so I tried her pie crust and discovered a new pie crust fear: rolling. I was afraid to over work it, which would make the pie crust tough. And I was afraid to add too much flour, though I don't know why. So the first time I made pie using Sylvia's recipe it didn't turn out so well. I decided to try again this weekend. I've wanted to try Paula Deen's recipe for Lemon Chess Pie for a long time but didn't want to use a store bought pie crust. Lemon Chess Pie seemed to deserve a homemade pie crust. This time, the rolling went much better. After some trial and error. I found a mat to roll the crust out on, because I was partly convinced that part of my rolling problem was my counter top. The pie crust makes three pie crusts, but I divided the pie crust into two, cause of my fear. The first time I tried to roll it out I didn't use nearly enough flour. But I had a back up. So I rolled the first crust into a ball and put it back in the freezer. I used what I thought was way too much flour to roll out the second crust but it turned out to be just the right amount of flour. I had no trouble whatsoever rolling out the pie crust or moving the pie crust from the counter top to the pie plate.

( It's not pretty, but it tastes divine. ) My next pie will be key lime pie. For Memorial Day Weekend. To welcome in summer. :)