On the subject of 'everyone has her way' with pie crust... I grew up in California, with a south-facing kitchen that was always hot. Adding ice water to the flour and fat for pie crust did nothing to keep the dough cool and the fat solid. A trick I hit on when I was a teen was to make my pie crust as far as cutting in the butter/lard/shortening. Then I would put it in the fridge to keep the fat solid while I made the filling, or even for several hours until I was ready to make the pie. Both the flour and the butter got quite cold in the fridge. Add cold water, roll it out, and even in our hot kitchen, I always ended up with flaky pie crust, because the fat didn't have time to melt. You can also simply freeze the ingredients at the same stage (flour with the fat cut in). Keep it in an air-tight container in the freezer, and take it out a an hour or so before you want to make pie, leaving it either on the counter or in the fridge, depending on how much time you have and whether your kitchen is hot. Add the required amount of liquid, mix and roll while the flour and fat are still quite cold. You can put enough frozen crust 'mix' in a zip-lock bag for one or two crusts and you're ready to go whenever you want to make pie. I find zip-lock bags are easier to store than 'finished' crusts. There's no risk of the hard-frozen crust breaking. And of course, I don't have to have dozens of pie pans to freeze the shells in. What's your take on lard in pie crust? I always feel that lard and butter make the best flavor (butter) and better flakiness (lard). Just don't tell Americans that you used lard; seems to offend American sensibilities. Some of us here only use lard in our pie crusts and others don't. It's all a matter of taste. I will say, however, that it makes a lovely, flakey crust. Molly@KAF

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