I use Betty Crocker receipe from 1961. 9 in.2crust pie 2 c flour, 1tsp. salt, 2/3 plus 2 level tbls. Crisco(white-plain) 1/4 c water. Mix salt & flour, I use 2 old table knives & mix until the flour has no particles larger than a pea. If it is not mixed enough you will have problems, you will see shortening "marble" through the crust. Add water & mix with fork only until it is forming a ball. finish gathering up with your hands. Dough that is handled a lot will be tough!! So it isn't floury or falling apart I use a piece of waxed paper & masking tape & tape all 4 corners to smooth clean, dry surface may have to use table if your counter is tiled. Once wax paper is down & you have 2 balls of dough(if it won't all gather quickly with your hands, just kind of patting it then sprinkle few drops more of cold water. cover 1 ball with wax paper in bowl while you take other 1 & sprinkle very little flour on wax paper in about a 6-8 in circle put ball on it cover with 2nd piece of wax paper roll out about 6 in wide & lift off waxed paper & turn over-the floured side is up now, cover with wax paper & roll out 1st left to right couple of times & then up & down so it stays a circle, don't be trying to squish it, roll it out, set your pan on top & you should see crust about 2 in or more all around, you need enough to go up sides of pan & to make an edge. When it looks right, remove top wax paper carefully,if it starts to break go to different area & peel back. When top wax paper is off turn pan upside down on pie circle & remove the masking tape on bottom waxpaper by carefully pulling back so you can put it down again for 2nd crust. When you have all 4 corners of wax paper free flip the waxpaper with crust & pan over,you can grip it with both hands,Crust is now in pan, get it evenly placed & peel off waxpaper,then fit crust into bottom & up sides fill & stick the waxpaper down on table using same tape as before roll top crust & edge however you like. Never falls apart this way,& not floury. Cleanup just take the 2 sheets of wax paper & toss in trash. If you use this method you should have good results every time. You can use the wax paper with any receipe but if has egg & vinegar etc may need bit more flour, if it is sticking & can't roll it off paper with your finger it needs more flour. Just make sure you don't shortcut mixing the salt/flour mixture with Crisco or you will have problems. If there is a gob of Crisco it will stick to waxpaper.Last yr. 11 yr old granddaughter wanted to learn how to make pumpkin pies, I said great. Was she surprised when she had to do all the work & grandma just watched & told her pretty much what I just said above. She took home 2 beautiful pies. Only thing she couldn't get was flipping the pan & crust on waxpaper over. I think she was afraid she would drop it. I did put them in oven & took them out of oven. She's quite small & I didn't want her to get burned.She was very proud of herself & I told her I thought I "learned" how to wallpaper until I was alone & then had to have friend come back & make me do it so I really knew how, watching someone often is not enough! Good Luck! Jan

My Sweetheart (Neil) makes the best lemon-meringue pie. He's been making it since he was young. He and his brother kept wanting them and their mom told them to start making them themselves, and whomever made the pie, got half! Long funny stories go along with that. I'm not permitted to make his pie, because that's his claim to fame, although I will say it is VERY similar to ginger st thomas', except he doesn't use food coloring. Heaven forbid I do the meringue. That's a work of art in itself..lol. What I wanted to suggest is his crust. He makes it with a graham cracker crust and not pastry (I am allowed to make that part). At first I thought he was nuts, but I tell you what... once you've had the pie with a graham crust, you'll wonder why you liked it so much with pastry. Give it a try. I think you'll be surprised. It is now expected that we show up with his pie to everyone's home we're invited to. While Neil is thrilled about that (you know how men like to strut), it also keeps him from eating half and having to settle for one piece like everyone else. Poor baby. Great having a guy who loves to cook, too, finally. Let me know what you think! Have a great weekend...

I honestly think it is the baking time. My MIL's chess pies always were burnt looking on top, but tasted yummy. Try turning the oven off, but leave the pie in the oven an extra 10 minutes or so. Mine are also perfectly brown, but not "quite" done in the middle. I've just added time previously, but I recently baked lemon bars that I thought looked a bit jiggly in the middle. I just put them back in the oven without turning it back on. I think they stayed 20 minutes. They didn't get browner, but dried out a bit, turned out the best I had ever made.

Coconut Cream Pie (From Anna Olson) Yield: 12 Makes 1 9-inch pie. This coconut cream pie has a sugar cookie crust, which complements the coconut cream filling wonderfully. GINGERSNAP CRUST (or you can use bought gingersnaps) 3/4 cup + 1/3 cup unsalted butter or vegetable shortening at room temperature 1 cup golden brown sugar, packed 1/4 cup fancy molasses 1 large egg 2-1/4 cups all purpose flour 2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground cloves Sugar, for coating COCONUT FILLING 2/3 cup sugar 2-1/2 Tbsp cornstarch 1 tsp salt 2-1/4 cups coconut milk 2 whole large eggs 2 large egg yolks 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 Tbsp unsalted butter 1 cup unsweetened coconut, lightly toasted CREAM TOPPING 1-1/2 cups whipping cream 1/4 cup sugar 1 Tbsp skim milk powder 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut, lightly toasted To Assemble FOR GINGERSNAPS, preheat oven to 350 °F. Cream butter and sugar together until smooth. Stir in fancy molasses and beat in egg. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Add to butter mixture and stir just until blended. Shape spoonfuls of dough into balls and roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet and press flat with the palm of your hand. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until edges are lightly browned and remove from baking sheet to cool. FOR CRUST, grind cooled cookies finely and measure out 2 ¼ cups of crumbs. Melt remaining 1/3 cup butter and stir into crumbs. Press into a 9-inch pie pan (or 2 6-inch springform pans) and chill until ready to fill. FOR FILLING, stir sugar, cornstarch and salt together in a heavy-bottomed saucepot. Whisk in coconut milk, whole eggs and egg yolks. Heat custard on low heat, whisking constantly for 5 minutes. Increase heat to medium and continue whisking until custard thickens and becomes glossy, about 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and strain. Stir in vanilla, butter and coconut and stir until butter has melted. Pour immediately into chilled pie shell, let cool on the counter for 15 minutes, then chill completely before topping with cream, at least 4 hours. FOR CREAM TOPPING, whip cream to a medium peak, and whisk in sugar and skim milk powder (the skim milk powder stabilizes the cream). Top coconut custard with whipped cream, and sprinkle remaining toasted coconut on top as garnish.