Tristan Johnsons' Cherry Pie

                                                                                            

This is Tristan Johnsons' very first Cherry Pie. his first pie he ever made & his first taste of Cherry Pie & it was a success on both points! Tristan is here for a summer visit & he kept asking me to make him Cherry Pie. When I asked if he wanted to help, his grin was from ear to ear. For a ten year old boy he attacked this project with adult tenacity! He made the crust & rolled it out, he helped cook the filling & he cut out the lattice top! Normally I would have crisscrossed the lattice work but our filling was hot & it would have been a little dicey so we settled for our easy version. The pie turned out wonderful & was WONDERFUL GOOD TOO! Hurray for Tristan & his Cherry Pie!
                                                  

 

CRUST: 2 Cups Flour
1 TSP Salt
1 TSP Sugar
Stir all of the above together. Cut in 1/3 Cup Shortening & 1/3 Cup Cold Butter Cut in until you have fine crumbs or as Tristan said I have sand! Now stir in enough cold water until dough pulls together. About 5 TBS Ice Cold Water. do not over work your dough. Now take about 2/3 of the dough & roll out on a well floured surface big enough to fill the bottom & sides of a 9 inch pie pan. Place dough in the bottom of the pan & out over the sides. Now roll out the rest of the dough so it is large enough to cover the top of the pie. Cut into strips for your lattice top. Let lay on the surface until you have your pie shell filled. Now lets make that filling!
FILLING:
2 Cans of Premium Pie Cherries 15 oz Cans Drain the juice into a deep sauce pan. Set cherries aside. Mix together 1 Cup Sugar with 3 heaping TBS of Cornstarch & a dash of salt. Slowly whisk that into your cherry juice. Cook over medium high stirring the entire time until mixture is thick & bubbling. Once thick pull from  heat & whisk in 1 TBS Lemon Juice & 1 TSP Almond Flavoring & 1TBS Butter! Stir together. Now add enough red food coloring to get the desired red cherry color you desire. We added about 6 drops. Stir well. Now dump the mixture into your unbaked pie shell. Lay dough strips across the top like in the photo. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degree preheated oven. Reduce heat to 350 degrees & bake for about 35 minutes  to 45 minutes until crust is nicely brown & filling is bubbling. Remove from oven & let cool. DELICIOUS! Great served with vanilla ice cream or whipped topping & if you are like Tristan you have both!