Strawberry Rhubarb Pie and Lessons Learned

This is my first time making strawberry rhubarb pie! They say this is an old time-y pie, but I don't remember ever eating one. Perhaps I have once or twice, but they didn't stick in my memory.

But many people have told me it's their favorite pie. Since my in-laws had rhubarb growing in their suburban garden, I figure this is a good opportunity to try baking one myself.

I adapted the recipe from Epicurious, with only 2 cups of cut rhubarb and milk instead of egg for glazing. I also had about a quarter of the pie dough left in the end.

The strawberry was from the market.

The pie was delicious but I had some issues with the crust. I learn best by doing. So here are my lessons learned.

(1) Cut butter in the flour first, then add vegetable shortening. If you're not using a food processor and are manually cutting in the butter and vegetable shortening, the different consistencies tend to leave the butter in large chunks.

(2) Leave only one inch or less overhang on the bottom crust. Otherwise the crust will sag in the oven. But build the edge up taller than the pie pan so it doesn't shrink too much.

(3) Make larger crimps when working with a crust made with vegetable shortening. Because the crust will expand and smaller decorations tend to lose shape.

(4) Cool pie completely before covering. Otherwise the condensation will make the crust soggy.

(5) Strawberry rhubarb pies are so yummy! Make more!! Whatever issues I had with the crust didn't matter, because in the end, the pie was delicious and we got to share it with our friends at the church picnic.

And eat more pie everyone! Until next time~