I enjoyed the article very much. My own mother passed away last year at 91 years. I can recall learning to make pie from her skilled hands when I was 8 years old. She always used "Farmer Peet's" shortening. Shortening, for those of you who don't know, before Crisco was refined lard. Kept in the fridge it would last for months. The bad news was that it was quite soft and in the days before food processors one had to work fast with a hand pastry blender. We didn't have Granny Smith apples 50 years ago. They are an Australian apple. We used MacIntosh or if we were very lucky, Northern Spy. Believe me, if you make a pie in this manner, you will taste the difference. It will send you back in time to when things were made just a little differently but the taste is well worth it.

• Reply