Pie crust

Well, I had another minor success: pie crust. I know it's pretty lame that I've never made a homemade pie crust before. I usually don't make pie and when I do, I prefer graham cracker/shortbread/chocolate wafer crusts. But I did it! I made an apple pie with a double crust. Was it pretty? No. Which you can totally tell by the picture. But was it delicious? Yes! Which you can also tell by the picture because I forgot to take one before eating some, and I'm not ashamed to say I have already eaten 1/4 of the pie and my husband hasn't even made it home yet. So here's the recipe:
From Taste of Home Baking
Classic Pie Pastry
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup shortening
6-7 tbs cold water

In a small bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture is crumbly. Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until a ball forms. Cover and chill 30 minutes or until easy to handle. Divide dough in half so one ball is slightly larger then the other. Roll out larger ball on a lightly floured surface to fit a 9 inch pie plate. Transfer pastry to pie plate. Trim pastry even with edge of plate. Add filling. Roll out remaining pastry to fit top of plate; place over filling. Trim, seal and flute edges. Cut slits on top. Bake according to recipe directions.

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook
Classic Apple Pie
3 tbs all purpose flour
1 large egg yolk
1 tbs heavy cream
3 lbs cortland apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
2 tbs lemon juice
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
1 tbs butter, cut into small pieces

In a small bowl, beat egg yolk and cream with whisk. Set aside. In a large bowl, toss together apples, lemon juice, sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Arrange in pie shell. Dot with butter. Brush rim with egg wash. Place second piece of dough on top, gently press over apples. Gently press the top and bottom pieces of overhang all together. Tuck dough under and crimp. Brush entire surface with egg wash and cut to vent. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes.

The crust didn't come out very pretty. I had trouble getting it rolled into a proper circle, and then I couldn't get it crimped together right. To be fair, my son was starting to pitch a fit and I had to hurry up to entertain him so I didn't get to spend much time trying to fix it. BUT the taste was great, the pie crust tasted wonderful and flaky and that's all I really want. I didn't want to attempt a lattice top because I thought it would be too much at once and I'm glad I didn't! I think I'll need a sitter for that or at least for the husband to be home. I'm glad to knock another thing off the list though and to see that pies aren't as difficult as I though.