Great care is requisite in heating an oven for pastry. If you can hold your hand in the oven while you count twenty, the heat is just right, and should be kept that way while the pastry is in. This heat will bake to a light brown, and will give the pastry a fresh flaky appearance. If the heat abates, the lower crust will become heavy, and the upper crust will fall in. Pie crust can be kept in a tightly covered dish in the ice chest for some days, and thus a fresh pie every day can be made without much trouble.

In baking custard, pumpkin or lemon pies, partly bake the crust first so that it will not absorb the filling.

Stewed fruits should be cold when put in the pie, or the crust will become sodden.

Plain Pie Crust

2 -1/2 cups sifted flour, 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup lard.

1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 large teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 cup cold water.

Rub the shortening into the flour, sifted with baking powder and salt, and mix with water. Mix as little as possible and handle very lightly.

Fine Puff Paste

1 quart sifted flour

2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt.

white 1 egg

1 cup butter, 1 cup lard, 1/2 cup ice water.

Mix baking powder and salt with sifted flour and then sift again. Have ready butter and lard, hard and cold; rub the lard smoothly into the flour, and add ice water with which the white of an egg has been mixed, and make a very stiff dough. Roll into a thin sheet and spread on it one fourth the butter, dusting it with flour; roll up like a scroll, double the ends over to meet, flatten and roll again. Repeat this until all the butter is used. Put in an earthern dish and set in a cold place for an hour or more before making the pies.

Patties

Roll out puff paste thin and cut with a biscuit cutter. Cut center out of two of every three, put the two rings on the third and bake at once. If the cutters are dipped in hot water, it will make the patties rise higher in baking.This recipe may be used for either patties or tarts.

Apple Pie

1 can apples.

2 tablespoons sugar.

cinnamon butter.

One can of apples for two pies. Slice into lower crust, sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar over each, a little cinnamon and some slices of butter, a very little juice. Cover with upper crust and bake.

Apple Custard Pie - No. 1

3 cups milk.

4 eggs.

1 cup sugar.

2 cups thick stewed apple nutmeg or cinnamon.

Strain thick stewed apples through a colander, add sugar. Beat yolks lightly and mix with apple; flavor with nutmeg or cinnamon. Beat into this the milk, and lastly the well beaten whites. Bake with one crust and let that bake before putting in the filling.

Apple Custard Pie - No. 2

4 eggs, 1 quart milk apples.

sugar to taste seasoning to taste.

Lay a crust on your pie plates, slice apples thin, and half fill plates; pour over them a custard made from eggs and milk, sweetened and seasoned to taste.

Apricot Meringue Pie

White House Cook Book.

1 can apricots, 1/2 cup sugar.

1 egg.

1 tablespoon sugar.

A canned apricot meringue pie is made by cutting the apricots fine and mixing them with half a cup of sugar and the beaten yolk of an egg; fill the crust and bake. Take from the oven; let stand a few minutes, cover with meringue made from white of egg and one tablespoon of sugar; bake in a slow oven until golden brown. Can be made into a tart by omitting meringue and adding crisscross strips of pastry when the pie is first put into the oven.

Banana Pie

Mrs. W. J. Scott.

3 eggs.

1 cup sugar.

1 tablespoon butter.

2 bananas.

3 tablespoons flour, 1 pint milk.

vanilla 3 tablespoons sugar.

Put milk into vessel to boil. Mix egg yolks, cup of sugar, butter and flour; beat mixture well and add to boiling milk. Cook until real thick. Set off to cool and flavor with vanilla. Make a rich crust and bake. Then slice bananas in the crust and pour custard over them. Beat the egg whites until stiff with three tablespoons sugar. Spread on the pie and brown.

Chocolate Pie - No. 1

Mrs. Charles E. Gordon.

1 pint milk, 1 cup sugar, 1 heaping teaspoon cornstarch.

2 eggs, 1/4 cup chocolate, melted

Mix sugar, cornstarch, egg yolks and chocolate and stir into boiling milk. Beat white for meringue. Bake in half set pie crust.

Chocolate Pie - No. 2

1 egg sugar.

chocolate custard pie.

Put some grated chocolate into basin and place on back of stove, let it melt but do not add any water. Beat egg with some sugar in it; when melted spread this over custard pie. Lovers of chocolate will like this.