Welcome. The blog is dedicated to the pursuit of good pie. Hopefully people will write in about their pies experiences, share recipes, recommend places that serve good pie and give tips on creating great pie.

Many of us have spent a great deal of time on the road, traveling the backroads as well as the interstates. In my travels I've noticed that it's becoming harder and harder to find a good piece of pie. When it happens, however, it can be a memorable experience.

Organic pies are even more challenging for the home cook because organic flour has less elasticity. The flavor is better, however. Some flours have a nutty taste. The flour that I use from Lancaster County has a buttery taste and is a little easier to roll out.

What shortening to use is a controversial issue. I use Spectrum, a nonhydrogeneted shortening derived from palm oil. We used lard, of course, on the farm. It does make fantastic pie crust, but there are serious health concerns with lard. Spectrum makes a great tasting crust but is harder to work with than lard or crisco. When refrigerated it becomes very hard and has to be energetically cut into the flour. Unchilled it cuts too easily into the flour and makes an inferior crust.