Wow. I just made my first pie here at the ranch

[EFerrari]

and rolling out that pastry was like working with old Playdough. It's hard to believe how much difference the dryness here makes. I'm going to try it again, with less flour and more water. Hope that first one tastes better than it rolled.

[hippywife]

1. I bet it will taste fine.

Even if it didn't roll out quite right or look like it's supposed to, it usually tastes good. Spaketh the Queen of the Mummy Danish Braid. :rofl:

[EFerrari]

2. LOL! But you don't know, hippywife.

I once made pancakes that were so bad, my German Shepard wouldn't go near them. lol

It was just a funny thing. It looked like pastry and felt like pastry until I went to roll it out.

[hippywife]

3. Never lose faith

until you nearly choke on the first bite. :rofl:

[Warpy]

4. How long did you rest the dough?

Leaving it in the fridge for at least half an hour and preferably an hour or two makes all the difference in the world. It allows the dough to fully absorb all the water and soften as the gluten relaxes.

As long as you used enough shortening, it should be OK even if it isn't pretty. Only a lack of shortening will make it turn into stone, even though too much working and no resting will make it chewy.

[EFerrari]

5. I've never had to do that with pie dough. not in Silicon Valley or in

Santa Monica or in San Francisco. But, it's ARID up here. I have a humidifier going 24/7 in my studio or I start turning to stone. In addition to Mom's wacky gas stove with the too high flame, I have to adjust the liguid in just about everything. Sticking in the frig sounds like a good idea. I'll try that next time.

[Warpy]

7. I live in the high desert in NM

and find that my flour has such a low moisture content that I don't have to increase the volume in high altitude baking recipes.

However, I rested pie dough when I lived on Cape Cod, sea level and as humid as you can get without being under water. It really does make a huge difference.

[EFerrari]

8. That's interesting. The only thing I ever remember chilling is gingerbread.

But, we were younger and hungier then. In fact, I distinctly remember making a devil's food cake to pass the time while the gingerbread was getting cold. lol

[katkat]

6. mummy danish braid? n/t

[hippywife]

9. I just don't have a good hand at making things presentable.

This is what it looked like before I baked it. :rofl:

[EFerrari]

10. That's kind of beautiful in a Creature Feature sort of way.

:)

[hippywife]

11. LOL! No kidding!

I took one look at it and said. "Mummy!" :rofl:

So...how'd your pie turn out?

[EFerrari]

14. The pie was great. This is the first time I tried using more than one kind of apple,

this time Granny Smith and Golden Delish and it made all the difference in the flavor. Mom said she liked the crust just fine but picky here thought it was sort of too dense, dry without being flaky. I'm going to try Warpy's suggestion on Sunday and see if we can sex up that pie crust and maybe next time it won't be me against The Blob. :)

[hippywife]

17. Hell!

If it's sweet, has a crust, contains fruit...good enough for me. :rofl:

[EFerrari]

18. Yeah, right.

:)

[hippywife]

19. I will always take pie over cake, or

any other dessert for that matter, so I've eaten some pretty poor crusts in my day. LOL

[katkat]

12. Is that a color found in nature :-) n/t

[hippywife]

13. Yes, actually it is.

We keep chickens and have fresh eggs. Have you never seen the yolk of a fresh chicken egg?

[katkat]

15. yolks

Yes, The mummy looks tan on my monitor, though.

[hippywife]

16. It looks pretty bright yellow on mine,

And it really was. It was just the braiding that was the issue. It was my first time trying it. :hi: