My mother's cook book

Pie Crust. — Twelve ounces of flour, six ounces of butter, one teaspoonful of baking-powder, one-half teaspoonful of salt, one gill of cold water. Place the flour and butter together in a bowl and mix them lightly with the fingers. When thoroughly blended add the baking-powder and the salt, pour in upon this the cold water and stir all well together, and flouring a mixing board turn this mixture out upon it and knead all to a light dough. When required roll this dough out very thinly and line the pie tin with it. Note. — When fresh, sweet lard can be obtained it may be substituted for butter in making pie crust or mixed in equal parts with it Ijemon Pie. — Two lemons, five tablespoonfuls of sugar, three eggs, one teacupful of milk, two tablespoonfuls of corn starch. Grate the rind of the lemons into a bowl, chop the pulp of the lemon very finely and mix it with the grated rind in the bowl. To this add the corn starch and beat all smooth with the cold milk. Separate the yolks from the whites of the eggs and placing the whites upon a plate 1 86 PIES AND PASTRIES. drop the yolks in with the mixture in the bowl, and beat all well together, adding two tablespoonfuls of the sugar. Line a pie tin with pie crust, see page 185, pour the mixture from the bowl into it, and placing the tin into a moderate oven, bake the pie for twenty minutes. Whip to a stiff froth the whites of eggs, and to this add the remainder of the sugar, and when the pie is done take it from the oven and place over the top the sugared froth of egg, when it should be returned to the oven for five minutes that the froth of egg may "set" and brown slightly upon the surface. Serve hot or cold as the taste may dictate, although a lemon pie should never be allowed to stand long enough for the crust to become soaked with its moisture. Apple Pie.— One and one-half pounds of apples, three ounces of sugar, one tablespoonful of cold water, one-half teaspoonful of grated nutmeg. Line a pie tin with pie crust, see page 185, wet the edges of the crust with a little cold water, pare, core and slice the apples and arrange these in the tin. When this is done sprinkle over the* apples the sugar and nutmeg and pour in the cold water ; then cut a covering of the crust of the proper size, having rolled it to the thickness of one-lhird of an inch, cover the pie with this, pressing it firmly together with the lining crust at the edges, and cutting two or- three slits in the top with a knife to permit the steam to escape while the pie is baking. This pie should be baked in a quick oven from twenty minutes to half an hour, according to the length of time the apples may irequire to be exposed to the heat before becoming soft. PUMPKIN PtE. 187 Peach Fie. — One quart of peaches, three ounces of sugar, three tablespoonfuls of cream. Line a pudding dish with flaky crust — see page 183, and cut also a round of the same, large enough to cover the top of the pudding dish. Bake the crust lining and the covering upon flat baking tins in a quick oven for fifteen minutes ; while these are baking, pare and slice the peaches, which must be very ripe, mix together the sugar and cream and pour over them, and when the crust is done, place the prepared peaches in the pie dish, , cover them over with the top crust and place all in the oven for five minutes ; in order that the fruit may steam through and the crust brown lightly upon the surface. Note. — When small fruits are to be made into pies, such as strawberries, raspberries, etc., they should be treated in the manner above laid down, as baking them with the crust causes them to lose flavor and freshness. Custard Pie. — Three eggs, three gills of milk, one ounce of sugar, one- half teaspoonful of grated nutmeg.