Mariah, here is my recipe for an oil-based pie crust. It is not "flaky" like a crust made with shortening, but it is very good and tasty. You roll it out between wax paper. I think you could add some natural sweetener to the dough for a sweeter pie. I also use it for quiche. I'm including my lowfat quiche recipe too, you and your hubby might like it. It's an easy, relatively painless way to add tofu to your diet. The crust sounds like it might go well with apple pie too! Pie Crust Mix together: 2 cups whole wheat PASTRY flour 2 tsp. salt (or a little less, depending on how strict your diet is) Here's where you could add a TBLSP of natural sugar Put 4 TBLSP COLD water into 1/2 cup of canola oil. Stir until bubbles are uniformly distributed. Pour liquid into flour mixture and stir. Separate into 2 piles and roll out between wax paper. Will hang together once it's rolled out. Low Calorie Quiche (from "Vegetarian Times" magazine) Crust: 1/2 cup rolled oats, ground into flour in a food processor (or oat bran) 1/2 cup whole wheat flour 1/2 cup unbleached white flour 1/4 tsp. salt 1/8 tsp. baking powder 1/4-1/3 cup canola oil 2 TBLSP lemon juice 1 1/2 tsp. honey 2-3 TBLSP cold water 1-2 tsp. sesame seeds Mix dry ing. together. Drizzle in oil until mixture looks like coarse sand. Add lemon, honey and 2 TBLSP water until the dough forms a ball. Add more water if necessary. Roll out between wax paper. Can sprinkle the pan first with sesame seeds. Prick crust on sides and bottom. Prebake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Note: sesame seeds are undigestible whole. Toast them LIGHTLY in the oven, then grind in the blender or food processor, but not too much or you'll end up with tahini, lol! Store in the fridge and use as a topping for rice dishes, etc. Quiche Filling ing. 1 tsp. water or olive oil 1 cup minced onion 1 tsp. minced garlic (or less!) 3 cups small broccoli florets 1-2 TBLSP water 2 large egg whites 10 oz package soft, silken tofu (Mori Nu brand comes in a cardboard box and you can keep it on the shelf, so you can stock up when you hit a big city with a comprehensive grocery or health food store, but there are other brands out there which might be at your local store too) 1 TBLSP prepared dijon mustard 1 tsp. dried basil or rosemary 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg 1/4 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. white pepper 1-2 TBLSP grated parmesean cheese (you can substitute nutritional yeast for the parmesean. Nutritional yeast is NOT brewer's yeast, which is a nutritional supplement. Nutritional yeast is a yellow, flaky powder, is a great cheese substitute for sprinkling. You'll find it in the refrigerator section of a health food store. Store it in your fridge at home.) Heat the oil or water in a skillet over med. heat. Add onion and sautee 3-5 minutes until translucent. Add garlic and broccoli and 1-2 TBLSP water. Steam until broccoli is bright green, about 2 min. Drain veggies if watery. Place in the pre-baked crust. Whip egg whites until frothy. Add tofu, spices and parmesean. Blend until smooth. Pour into pie crust. Can garnish with red pepper strips if desired, but not necessary. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 min. Watch the crust edges!

Bruce, I blind bake my pie crust for pumpkin pies all the time. I also precook the filling as stated below, works like a charm... don't remember where I came across the recipe, as it's been years that I've been making it this way. The ingredients are very similar to Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie recipe, but the procedure is different, which I prefer.. Pumpkin Pie (1) 9"pie Prepare blinded baked 9" pie shell. · 2 cups evaporated milk · 1 - 15 oz. can pumpkin · 3/4 cup sugar · 1/2 tsp. salt · 1/4 tsp. ginger · 2 tbsp. cornstarch · 1 tsp. cinnamon · 1/2 tsp. nutmeg · 1/4 tsp. cloves · 2 egg yokes · Whipped cream In a large pot, place all the ingredients together-- except egg yokes -- & bring to slight boil all the until thick, approximately 15 minutes, stirring so no lumps will form. In a small bowl, temper the egg yolks, pour a little of the hot liquid over the egg yokes & mix well, then add to the hot mixture. Pour pumpkin mixture into a blind baked pie shell & bake for 15 min at 350. Cool and top with whipped cream Lucy

Sorbets. Which? SORBET AU CABERNET 1 1/2 c Sugar 1 c Chilled fresh lemon juice 1 1/4 c Cabernet Sauvignon 4 Garnish peeled & sliced thin -kiwi 1 c Water 2 lb Red seedless grapes (Makes about 1 quart.) Combine sugar, wine and water in saucepan and simmer 5 minutes, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Chill. Crush grapes* in processor, then squeeze through cheesecloth to obtain 2 1/2 cups juice. Add grape and lemon juices to syrup. Process in ice cream maker. Arrange kiwi fruit and scoops of sorbet on individual dessert plates. Best made within 24 hours of serving. *Can substitute green seedless. Blackberry Cabernet Sorbet Recipe Ingredients: 1 pound blackberries (fresh is best, frozen is OK) 1 cup cabernet sauvignon 1/2 cup sugar 1 teaspoon lemon juice Turn this recipe into a puzzle! [click] Directions: Puree the blackberries, then put the mixture through a sieve to remove the seeds. Combine the strained berry juice, wine, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan, and cook over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Freeze according to the directions for your ice cream freezer, or place in a shallow pan in the freezer. If your freezer is too warm to get the sorbet to harden, substitute water for a portion of the wine in your next batch. This recipe from CDKitchen for Blackberry Cabernet Sorbet serves/makes 4

The pie crust pouch looks like it would work well. I had a terrible time making pie crust for years. I won't go into detail on the various problems, but I was a total failure with pie crust. Until Nancy posted her recipe and now I only have problems with 2 crust pies. The upper crust is what gives me problems now but my Mom suggested to freeze the dough for the upper crust and then grate it over the pie. The grated frozen dough makes an interesting top crust and it works wonderfully. I now make so many pies that I always have a recipe of Nancy's Pie Crust in my refrigerator ready at all times. Single-Crust with Vodka (Nancy) Vodka is essential to the texture of the crust and imparts no flavordo not substitute. This dough will be moister and more supple than most standard pie doughs and will require more flour to roll out (up to 1/4 cup). 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (6 1/4 ounces) 1/2 teaspoon table salt 1 tablespoon sugar 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (3/4 stick), cut into 1/4-inch slices 1/4 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening , cut into 2 pieces 2 tablespoons vodka , cold 2 tablespoons cold water 1. Process 3/4 cups flour, salt, and sugar together in food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses. Add butter and shortening and process until homogenous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 10 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds with some very small pieces of butter remaining, but there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade. Add remaining 1/2 cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl. 2. Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Flatten dough into 4-inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days. 3. Adjust oven rack to lowest position, place rimmed baking sheet on oven rack, and heat oven to 425 degrees. Remove dough from refrigerator and roll out on generously floured (up to ¼ cup) work surface to 12-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Roll dough loosely around rolling pin and unroll into pie plate, leaving at least 1-inch overhang on each side. Working around circumference, ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with one hand while pressing into plate bottom with other hand. Leave overhanging dough in place; refrigerate until dough is firm, about 30 minutes. 4. Trim overhang to ½ inch beyond lip of pie plate. Fold overhang under itself; folded edge should be flush with edge of pie plate. Flute dough or press the tines of a fork against dough to flatten it against rim of pie plate. Refrigerate dough-lined plate until firm, about 15 minutes. 5. Remove pie pan from refrigerator, line crust with foil, and fill with pie weights or pennies. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and weights, rotate plate, and bake for 5 to 10 minutes additional minutes until crust is golden brown and crisp. Notes: I do not add the 2 TBL of water. And I do add extra flour until the dough is the right texture to roll out. Michelle