My mother has always sworn by crisco and ready crust. I however like to make it from scratch and the first thing I discovered is that crisco makes a LOUSY crust, use lard. The second rule is the don't overwork the crust, once you are blended, roll and bake. Unlike bread, crusts do not like to be touched. Here is my recipe from Better Homes and Gardens "Pies and Cakes" 1969: Double crust 2 C Sifted all-porpose flour 1 t salt 2/3 C shortening (lard) 5 to 7 T cold water Sift together flour and salt: cut in shortening with pastry blender or blending fork till pieces are the size of small peas. (For extra tender pastry, cut in half the shortening till mixtrure looks like cornmenal. Then cut in remaining till like small peas.) Sprinkle next tablespoon waster over part of mixture. Gently toss with fork: push to side of bowl. Sprinkle next tablespoon water over dry part" mix lightly" push to moistened part at side. Repeat till all is moistened. Form into ball. (for double-crust and lattice top pies, divide for lower and upper crust. Form each portion into ball.) Flatten ball on lightly floured surface. Roll from center to edge till dough is 1/8 inch thick. My Aunt, a wonderful baker, taught me to use the side of my hand to mark the top of the ball of dought like you would a peanut butter cookie, three of four times each way. It seems to help keep the dough more even as it is rolled and keeps the edges from splitting so bad. Good luck Billie

My hunch, if it was central VA and a BBQ place, was that it wasn't a pate sucree or something similar. It was probably an "American" pie crust. You can make a great flaky crust in about four minutes with butter, flour, and a little ice cold water. Can add a pinch of salt if you want. Leave some pretty large chunks of butter and make sure you do the fraisage. Like always, let it sit for an hour or so or even a day before rolling it out. Most likely based on cost and region, they probably used shortening, but don't. It tastes bad and makes your crust have a bad mouthfeel. Just use butter. Bake it well, maybe weighing it down, and make sure you bake it very close to the time you are going to use it. In other words, don't bake it today for use tomorrow or the next day. It's never as crisp as it is the first day. Let it cool, fill and serve immediately. The water from the filling will start to soften it right away, so you don't want to let that sit if you want to maintain the crispiness. This post was edited by rosesinny on Mon, Feb 18, 13 at 17:57

Boy, I haven't made Char Siu Bao in a long time, Jessy. Now you've got me thinking about them. Chinese Steamed Bread Dough 2 t yeast 1 1/2 c warm water 1 T sugar 2 t baking powder 3 1/2 c flour Dissolve the yeast in the warm water, & stir in the sugar until it's dissolved. Leave it to proof for about 10 or 15 minutes. Stir in the flour and keep stirring until the dough holds together & pulls away from the bowl...if you need a bit more water, that's fine. Knead the dough well for about 10 minutes, dusting with flour as necessary. When it's nicely elastic, cover it with a damp cloth or saran wrap and let it rise for about an hour and a half, until it's doubled. Punch down & let it rise again. Dissolve the baking powder in enough water to make a sort of slurry...about the same amount water as powder, I'd guess. Knead the slurry into the dough for a few minutes. Now your dough is ready to make whatever kind of steamed bun you like, filled or not. I like to make flower rolls out of it. Flower Rolls Roll out the dough into a rectangle, about 1/4 inch thin if you have the patience but at least 1/2 inch thin. Brush the dough well with sesame oil (buy a good quality, 100% sesame oil, not a blend)...you'll probably use about 4 Tablespoons, and sprinkle with about 1/2 t salt. Sometimes I also sprinkle finely chopped green onions on the dough as well. Roll up the dough, jelly roll fashion, cut it into 2 inch pieces. Place a piece on the work surface so that the rolled ends are facing out...sort of on it's side. Now take a chopstick and press down across the roll, almost as though you were going to cut it in half, but don't quite go that far. What you want is 2 ovals joined at their middles. Pick up the roll on either side of the ovals, and, pinching a bit, pull the ends underneath so that the ovals "blossom", and pinch the ends together. This is as clear as I can describe the process...I remember that the first few times I made these, I ended up with rolls that looked nothing like the picture, before I finally figured it out...it doesn't matter, they taste the same even if they don't look right. Let the rolls sit for a while and recuperate while you boil the water & set up your steamer...10 or 12 minutes. Steam the rolls for 20 minutes (no peeking!) Leftovers can be refreshed in the steamer in 4 or 5 minutes if you start with the water boiling rapidly. Now, about the steamer... Chinese markets have wonderful bamboo steamers that are quite inexpensive. There are large ones made to fit over a wok, or small ones that fit over a pot. They're stackable, so you can steam as much or as little as you like. Alternately, many Chinese cooks simply put an inch or two of water in a big pot, and use a plate on a wire stand (also available at Chinese stores) that holds the plate above the water. In a pinch, camping, I used a plate on a tin can that I'd removed both ends of. Any steamer set up will do, really. If you're not able to steam the rolls all at once, cover the rest with saran wrap or a damp towel and put them in the fridge, taking the next batch out about 5 minutes before the batch in the steamer is done so they can go back to room temp. You can also make all kinds of meat or veggie filled buns with this dough. Roll the dough between your hands to form a long "rope" and cut it into pieces large enough to roll into about 5 inch circles. The edges should be a bit thinner than the center. Put your filling in the center, and sort of pleat & pinch the filling together at the top. Whether the point goes up or down in the steamer is purely to your taste. Traditional pork bao are smoothly round, so the point goes down. Some cooks have the point up because it is decorative. It all tastes the same. It would probably be a good idea to practice with one, steam it, and then check to see if the ratio of bread to filling is to your liking before doing the rest. Oh, about the sesame oil. Make sure it is Chinese or Japanese. Indian people use a sesame oil that is quite different, and not suitable for this recipe. Also, refrigerate the unused portion as it turns rancid at room temp quite quickly. It is a wonderful oil to quickly saute vegetables or add into Asian marinades or dressings, but has a fairly low burning point, so don't heat it to smoking stage.

Okay, I will try to post again! I tried last week and when I went to submit, my screen went blank and then each time there was some sort of problem with trying to get on the Garden Web. Here is the big batch of pie dough. You will need of course a very large bowl and either a hand mixer or a pastry blender tool. In a large bowl put 5 pounds of all purpose flour. I take mine right out of the freezer and it is very cold. To this add 1 three pound can of vegetable shortening that has been in the refrigerator. Add the shortening in large spoons full and either use the mixer or your pastry blender tool or whatever you like to mix in the flour and shortening until it is fairly small pieces. When it is done add to this two 12 ounce cans of lemon lime drink. Let it soak in and then stir it well until it becomes a large lump! Then shape smaller portions of the dough in a size for a top and bottom crust. Wrap in plastic wrap, and freeze. Put the wrapped dough into a ziplock freezer bag. Put in the refrigerator to thaw when ready to use or put in the to chill refrigerator and then roll out for pie. Some times I add some sugar to the flour and shortening mixture and also maybe some vanilla if you wish a sweeter dough. This does not call for any salt. I don't know how many pies this makes as I don't use it all at once. It has always turned out well for me. Sue