Ingredients

• 1 cup butter flavor shortening (plain would work fine)
• 2 cups flour, stirred and spooned into the measuring cup
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons cold water (may need more or less, depending on weather)

Instructions

1. Prepare to have the ice water handy by filling a Pyrex measuring cup with water and ice cubes. Set it by your work area, and let it get icy cold.

2. Combine flour and salt in a medium bowl.

3. With a pastry cutter (or two knives), cut the shortening in until the mixture resembles pea-sized crumbs.

4. Take out the pastry cutter and, while stirring with a fork, add 1 Tablespoon ice cold water at a time until the dough is sticky and comes together. If the weather (or your kitchen) is warm/humid, less water will be needed. Be sure you have the consistency you want, because it's very difficult to add more water.

5. Form half the dough into a ball with your hands, and flatten the ball into a 1/2" thickness, rounding the edges.

6. Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface (you can place between sheets of wax or parchment paper, if that is easier), and roll into a 10" circle (roll with your wrists doing the work, not your shoulders. I saw that on a Bobby Flay - Pie Throwdown episode).

7. Gently transfer to a 9" pie plate. Gently press the pastry down into the plate, being sure not to stretch or tear the dough. If it does tear a little, just take some off the edge, and "patch" it.

8. Create a decorative edge around the top, and cut any extra crust off of the edge.

9. Repeat for a second single-crust pie, or fill the bottom crust and top with the second half of this recipe for a double-crust pie.

10. Blind bake the crusts or fill and bake as directed in your recipe.