I remember my mother making pies - she used room temperature Crisco or Tenderflake lard, cut into the flour with a knife. Her crust always rolled out like a dream, and she never made fewer than three or four pies at a time. She was baking up into her 80's although she stopped making pies to concentrate on muffins, cookies and quickbreads. I inherited all of her best recipes, and I refer back to the family favourites often. I also was given a number of cookbooks by an aunt who was waiting impatiently for me to get married. Despite repeated attempts, I was never able to master traditional cookbook pie crusts. I finally found a recipe that used sour cream, cold butter and a food processor. It makes a lovely pie crust that is easy to handle. Once I get my new stove (the one we bought when we moved in to the house 16 years ago crapped out this week) I think I am going to try pie crust Mom's way one more time - it will soon be time for pumpkin pie and apple pie, and this September 24th would have been Mom's 93rd birthday. I think a perfectly baked pie would be the best way to pay tribute to her memory and her legacy.

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