Never Fail Piecrust

This recipe came from my college roomate Genaura Lee. We had an agreement, I would cook and she would clean. She didn't really think she liked cooking but she did come to school with a recipe box full of tried and true recipes from her mother. I thought my piecrust was great, she very nicely asked me to try her mother's recipe. I never again used the recipe from my family. This pastry is rich and flaky (very flaky). It is so forgiving that I've even rolled the dough twice (think dropping rolled piecrust on counter and tearing it apart, then re-rolling) and had it turn out. The original recipe says it makes 4 9" crusts but we really like crust so I get 2 10" crusts and a nice sized cinnamon sugar scrap crust out of this recipe. Dave's very fond of thick edges on the crusts so when I trim the pastry after placing it in the pie plate I leave about a 1" overhang and then turn it under the rest of the dough. This also makes it easier to pinch the crust and make a pretty edge. I also find it easiest to roll the dough between two silicone baking sheets with just a sprinkling of flour. The dough peels right off and you don't have an excess of flour making the pastry tough or dusty.

3 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 1/4 Cups Shortening

1 egg, well beaten

1 Tbsp vinegar

4 Tbsp cold water

Mix flour and salt in large bowl. Cut in shortening with pastry cutter or two knives until coarse crumbs are formed. Combine egg with water and vinegar, drizzle over the flour mixture. Mix lightly until flour is all moistened and holds together in a ball. If too soft to roll, cover and chill for a short while.