Basic Pie Crust (courtesy of James McNair's Pie Cookbook) - Makes pastry for one 8- to 10-inch double-crust pie (or 2 single pie shells)
3 cups all-purpose flour, preferably unbleached
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter or other fat, alone or in combination, cut into small pieces (if mixing in food processor, fat should be frozen)
1/2 cup or more ice water
To mix pastry by hand, combine flour, salt, sugar in bowl and mix well. Using pastry blender, 2 dinner knives, or your fingertips, cut butter (and/or other fat) into dry ingredients as quickly as possible until mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Sprinkle 1/2 cup ice water over mixture and combine with fork or fingertips just until dough holds together. If dough seems too crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
To mix in food processor, combine flour, salt, sugar in work bowl. Using steel blade, process for 1 or 2 seconds to mix dry ingredients. Add butter/fat and cut into dry ingredients by turning processor on and off with quick pulses just until mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Sprinkle 1/2 cup ice water over mixture and turn motor on/off with quick pulses just until mixture begins to mass together. Dough should be crumbly but not dry. If mixture seems too crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
Turn half of mixture onto sheet of waxed paper, gather into a ball, press into a thick flat disk about 5 inches in diameter. Bring paper around to enclose dough and refrigerate about 15 minutes to "relax" the dough for a more tender crust. (same for other half)
Tips for perfect pastry:
1. All fat and liquid ingredients must be very cold.
2. When mixing butter and other fat, best to soften fats, blend them, and chill before using.
3. Mix ingredients as quickly as possible. Flaky pastry results from pockets of fat left to melt in between flower paste layers, over-mixing results in a tough crust.
4. Chill pastry before rolling out and again before baking.
5. When touching dough, be sure hands are cold, occasional rinse in cold water keeps them at right temperature.
6. When rolling out/handling dough, handle pastry as quickly and little as possible. If butter/fat gets too soft, it will be absorbed by flour, resulting in crust that is heavy and tough.
Easy as pie, right?
), the fact that we have oil wells on two properties (one of each on mom and pops side), it kinda' offsets. 
