In making paste for pies great care should be taken that the flour be well dried; for the finer kinds of paste it ought also to be sifted. The very best salt butter is perhaps the best material for making paste. Some persons employ lard, or equal parts of lard and butter; and clarified dripping is an excellent substitute.

An adept in pastry never leaves any part of it adhering to the board or dish used in making. The best thing to make it upon is a slab of marble or slate; which substances cause less waste, being cold and smooth. The coolest part of the house, and of the day, should be chosen for the process; the hands should be previously washed in very hot water, and the less they touch the paste the better and lighter it will prove; nor should it be rolled much.

In whatever way paste be made, wetting it much will render it tough.

Salt butter of the best quality makes a fine flaky crust; for sweet things, wash it. In making pie-crust lard is, however, better than butter; and in making the paste it* is sometimes mixed with the flour in a. dry state.

Heating the oven properly is a very essential point in baking the various sorts of paste to be here enumerated.

Raised pies must be put into a quick oven, or the crust will fall. The cook should accurately know the proper heat for each article, as opening the door to observe their progress lets in the air, and often spoils them. They require from one half to a full hour more than when baked in a dish.