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Pie Crust (aka “Pastry”)

Some people are afraid of making pie crust. I've never used a store-bought pie crust, and don't plan on starting now. It really isn't that hard, once you get the hang of it. The Quick Instructions are more guidance than you really need after you've done this a few times. The Detailed Instructions contain all my tips and secrets for the absolute first time pie baker.

Recipe: Tom’s Pie Crust

Summary: This is the traditional recipe for making pie crust (called “pastry” by some), as taught to me by my grandmother. These basic instructions are in pretty wide use, and used generally by most everyone I know who makes pie crust.

Ingredients

{For one pie crust, for an open face pie such as pumpkin pie. Double the recipe if you need a top and bottom crust, as in the traditional closed apple pie}

  • 1/3 cup shortening or lard.
  • 1 cup all purpose flour (not self rising)
  • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt (omit if desired)
  • ice water

Instructions

Quick Instructions: Mix shortening and flour. Add water until mixture just sticks together in a ball. Roll out, and put in a greased and floured pie pan.

Detailed Instructions:

  1. Cut the shortening into the flour and salt (salt is optional). I use my hands, but there is a kitchen tool for this purpose, if you don’t like getting flour on your hands.

    2. Continue reading “Pie Crust (aka “Pastry”)”

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Haitian history — the story of Bois Caiman

Haiti has been in the news as my church and many others work to help a country in unimaginable need. I remembered a conversation with a Haitian guest.

A couple of years ago our Christian Men’s Breakfast group was honored with the visit from a Haitian minister, in the US, at the time, to raise funds for church building in Haiti. He relayed some remarks to us, in effect saying that Haiti was under a curse because of a voudou pact it’s leaders had made to get their independence a couple of centuries ago. I hadn’t thought too much about those remarks until recently, when I asked a friend who has some pretty direct connections to Haiti. He referred me to “Bois Caiman” and suggested a Google© search would shed some light on Haitian history, and the background of what our preacher guest had told us. I thought the matter is interesting—read this and judge for yourself.

According to http://www.haitianmedia.com/index.php/42 (the website calls itself, “the #1 Haitian Journalist”):

Bois Caiman is site of the voodoo ceremony presided over by Dutty Boukman on August 14 1791. It is widely accepted as the starting point for the Haitian Revolution. Some scholars, however, have deemphasized the role of the Bois Caiman ceremony in sparking the Haitian revolution or have even gone so far as to question whether the event even took place. Whatever the ultimate disposition of these claims, no one can deny that the historical memory Bois Caiman has political and spiritual resonance for many Haitians to the present day. Continue reading “Haitian history — the story of Bois Caiman”

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