The Perfect Pie Crust

I consider myself pretty competent in the kitchen. This is a result of growing up in my mom's kitchen and watching the Food Network several hours a day. However, there is one thing that I have never been able to master. The pie crust.

This year, I was determined to make a homemade pie crust. I have tried various recipes over the years and they have just never turned out right. Too tough. Too crumbly. Too chewy. Too salty. The list goes on and on.

I got on foodnetwork.com and started looking around at recipes. I figured if anyone knew how to make a homemade pie crust it was Paula Deen. Sure enough, I found a recipe called Paula's Perfect Pie Crust. All the reader's reviews (except for one) raved that it was the best pie crust ever.

I put Grace down for a nap and went to work on my perfect pie crust. I followed the directions to a tee. After chilling my dough for 30 minutes, I sprinkled some flour on the counter and got out the rolling pin. Uh-oh. The dough was crumbling apart and not rolling neatly. So I added more water and kneaded. Uh-oh. It was too sticky. So I added more flour. (You can see where this is headed). After fooling around with it for about 20 minutes, I lost it. In a fit of frustration, I threw my ball of tough, crumbly dough in the trashcan.

I jumped in the car and drove to Albertsons and purchased a frozen pie crust. I've heard Mrs. Smith makes a pretty decent crust.