Today's Cooking Episode

I love pie.

Especially fruit pie.

Today I made a mango and peach pie.

It's divine, with a scoop of good vanilla ice cream.

Mango Peach Pie:

2 mangos cubed (about 1 1/2 to 2 cups)
5 peaches sliced very thin (2 to 3 cups)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp flour (mix with the sugar before adding, trust me)

Mix all ingredients together in a largish bowl, cover and refrigerate while you make the crust.

Yes, I said MAKE the crust.

Pie Crust:

3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups cold shortening, lard or butter (refrigerate it, I'm not kidding!)
3/4 cup ice water

Mix the flour and salt, cut in the shortening until it looks like crumbs.
Add 1/2 cup of the ice water and gently stir in.
Add additional water 1 tbsp at a time until the dough ball is formed. Don't make it too wet, that will make a tough crust!

Form into 2 balls, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour.
(You DID put the filling into the fridge, right?)

Set your oven to 450°.

Take the dough out of the fridge, one ball at a time.

Knead gently, about 10 times.
Roll out on a floured surface to a round big enough for a 10" pie pan.
Place into pie pan gently, easing it down the sides. There should be about an inch overhang outside the pie pan.

Take the filling out of the fridge, stir and pour into the crust.

Now roll out the top, according to the above directions. Fold into quarters and cut vents into the middle.

Wet the edges of the crust in the pan with water, egg white or juices from the filling.

Unfold the top over the filling and trim to 1/2 inch from the outside edge.

Fold the bottom crust up over the top crust and finish by crimping or pressing with a fork all the way around.

Cover edges with foil and place pie on center rack in the pre-heated oven.

Bake for 15 minutes at 450°, then turn temperature down to 350°.

Cook for an additional 30 to 45 minutes, or until crust is golden.

Remove from oven and protect from others by saying how nasty it smells.

Cool for at least 3 seconds.

Dig in.

Seriously, let it cool a while (30 minutes or so) or the filling will be runny and your pie will look as yucky as you said it smelled earlier.