I also mix my pie crust in my food processor. I "crumble" the shortening,
salt and flour first, then add ice water, and "pulse" until it just forms a
ball. It really works great! My husband never could stand store-bought pie
crust. Now I think I've caught that "disease"!

--
Alice in PA
http://community.webshots.com/user/twosonsatpsu
"Roberta" Roberta@Home wrote in message
...
Of course you can! Here's a trick to lighten up European flour: for
every cup of flour, replace a tablespoon with cornstarch (or potato
starch.) I do this with nearly everything I bake that needs to be
light and crispy.
The main issue with hard pastry is too much water and/or too much
handling. Polly's is pretty fool-proof because it uses no water. And
you can solve the handling issue by mixing it in a food processor. Use
the butter and cream cheese right out of the fridge. Takes about 30
seconds!
Roberta in D

On Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:48:41 +0000, Pat S
wrote:

Do you think it is just possible, therefore, that I might be able to
*make* pastry? I have been *buying* it ready-made for many years ...
... because you could pave a garden patio with mine g (sad but true -
I once made 'fool-proof' bread rolls from a packet mix that were so hard
my DH had to drill holes to hang them out for the birds - and they
ignored them gg).
.
In message , Sandy
writes

Polly, I also have a cream cheese pastry recipe, and if yours is
anything like mine, it's heavenly!