#520 - Cherry Pie

(crust by Harriet Weaver; cherry pie by Shirley McNevich)

Pie crust:
5 cups flour
2 cups Crisco (generous, heaping)
1/2 stick of margarine or butter
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. Arm & Hammer baking soda
1 egg
1 TBSP cider vinegar
Filling: 1 - 21oz. Musselman's OR Lucky Leaf cherry pie filling
Crumbs: 1/2 cup white sugar, 3/4 cup flour, 1/3 cup butter

Using your hands or a pastry blender, mix flour, crisco, margarine, salt, and baking soda until it's crumbly. Set aside. In a measuring cup, add egg and vinegar and beat with a fork. Add water until the egg mixture and the water meet the 1 cup line on your measuring cup. Beat with a fork. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix everything with hands until you can form a ball. Roll out the dough.

Spray a 10" pie plate with Pam cooking spray. Roll out one crust and place in pie plate. Spray the dough (inside and edges) with Pam cooking spray. Pour cherry pie filling into the crust, then place second pie dough on top and flute the edges (wet edges of each crust lightly with water OR Pam before fluting edges). Poke holes all over top crust using a knife to vent and sprinkle a little white sugar over the top crust. OPTIONAL: instead of adding top pie crust, in a bowl add the white sugar, flour, and butter--mix with your hands to make crumbs, then sprinkle crumb mixture evenly on top of cherry pie filling. Place pie plate on a cookie sheet to catch any drips while baking, and bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until crust or crumbs are browned lightly.