Good for you!

For years I have been wanting a piece of marble but not wanting to spend the money. For Christmas last year my friend gave me a nice silicone pastry mat with measurements in inches,cms and rounds for making pies and tarts - 24x18 inches Washes up really easy and I can use it in the oven up to 600 degrees if I need to for any reason. Rolls up and stores in the cupboard. I am happy now and don't have to spend the money on the marble. As you have seen on FB I have been making my share of tarts, rolls and cookies on it. Maybe getting the pastry mat was not a good thing LOL

Enjoy using your new piece of granite to make tasty treats for your family.

Anne

Tami, LOL! You can make noodles and yeast rolls on it, too. My favorite pie crust is made with lard, but that's a no-no these days. It's really light and tasty, though. I sure miss it!

That's one big slab of granite. Enjoy it!

Patti wanna share said recipe with lard? Guess what I have in my fridge?! Lard! My aunt's hamburger buns takes lard. They don't come out right if you don't use it.

Anne I've been watching all those goodies! I may need some of those recipes also! The tarts especially looked good.

Tami

I keep lard in my pantry, love it for pie crusts. I just use a plastic Tupperware or similar mat to roll my dough out on. I have more than one. No granite or marble here.

Sue

I always use lard for making pastry. Tenderflake lard, I won't use the other stuff

lard here too :)

Yikes, I had no idea so many people use lard in their pastries. I'll have to be more careful with other people's homemade sweets!

I will add a link to pie crust. I change the recipe up a bit. Instead of all purpose I use 6 cups pastry and cake flour but all purpose is fine, I just used what I had more of. I use 1 tbsp sugar, 1/4 tsp baking soda and 3 tbsp vinegar. I think I only added 1 tsp salt not 2. Pastry is really good to work with and rolls out very easy even right away after making.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pie Crust

Chi83, don't worry! The only reason I have lard is because of my aunt's recipe!

Thanks Fizz.

Marilyn Sue, I have that mat and hated using it. Even floured, everything stuck to it.

Growing up, as a kid, I liked the crusts and would remove the filling :o) Same with southern homemade cobbler with real pie crust.

My crust recipe is similar to Anne's, except that I use lemon juice instead of vinegar, and is so easy to roll. The recipe dates back to when DD#5 tried to make pies, and always gave up and I had to finish up, which does not make a light crust. One day I came home to find she had pies made and the crust was great. So we've been using it ever since.

Tami, I just came back on your post. Here's mother's recipe. Mind you, it makes a lot of pie crust. Probably enough for 2 double-crust pies and 1 one-crust pie.

1 egg
5-1/2 c. flour
2-1/2 tsp. salt
1 lb. lard

Mix 1/2 the lard with flour and salt until crumbly. Add the other 1/2 lard and mix. Mix slightly beaten egg in 1 c. measuring and fill with ice water. Add ice water/egg mixture. Mix well and chill. (You may need to add a little more flour.)

I forgot to add, I mix that stuff up with my hands to get it mixed well.

Thanks Patti. I may try that in the food processor. I don't know if my hands will mix it. And I don't care if it makes a lot of dough! I can freeze it!

Tami

I've had a marble pastry board for years. As the years go by, it gets heavier and heavier to lift up onto the table tho. :) I wish it could be left out permanently but I don't have the counter space. Have fun making all those pastries (my biggest weakness besides potato chips).