If you have wine or brandy put in a cupful after taking from the fire.
The Crust
- 2 cups pastry flour sifted with teaspoon salt.
- ½ cup (generous) of lard mixed in with fingertips till the combination is fine and powdery.
Wet with cold water, mixing with knife, and cutting, till you can take the dough from the bowl without sticking to it. Divide in half, pat gently on floured marble slab, and roll out thin. Lift lower crust carefully, place in tin and trim off edges. Roll out from trimmings a strip half an inch wide and place on top of lower crust, around edge, first wetting edge slightly with cold water. Put in filling, place upper crust on top, first wetting edge of rim slightly with cold water, press together with tines of fork and trim off overhanging of upper crust. Prick a large T. M. on the top crust and bake in hot oven till brown.
(The T. M. stands for “’Tis Mince” to distinguish it from the pies labeled T. M. for “’Tain’t Mince.”)