8 oz lard (room temp)
3 cups flour
pinch of salt
6 oz ice cold water
3 handfuls dry beans

Work the lard with a pastry cutter or by hand into flour, to the desired size of small peas. Pour a third of the ice cold water into flour mixture. Adding a third at a time until dough comes together into ball. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl. Wrap in plastic wrap.

Refrigerate for one hour. This will give you one double crust pie and a single or three single crusts.

Roll the dough into circle on counter surface. Fill into the pie dish, poke holes in the bottom of pie crust so it won't bubble over.

There are certain ways to put the pie crust into the oven, either with or without the pie filling. If you are making a pie with pudding in it, put some wax paper inside the tin and fill the tin with evenly spread out non-cooked beans, put the pie in the oven for 10 minutes at 400°F (if not cooked fully put it in for one minute more at a time). If your're not using pudding, put your filling in and bake at 450°F for 10 minutes. After this is done, reduce the heat to 350°F and bake for 40 minutes. Put your topping on and bake for 15 minutes at 350°F and serve.

Note: When done, do not discard the beans (store them in a jar). They can be saved and reused over and over.

Submitted by: Penelope Snipe