The new Annie Dennis cook book

Sift to mix and then rub in one-half cup of shortening ; mix to a dough with one-half cupful of ice water. Wrap the pastry in wax or parchment paper and place on ice to chill thoroughly for two hours. Pastry made the day before will be delightfully light and flaky. This amount of pastry will be sufficient for two pies. Divide the pastry into two parts. Roll out one on a lightly floured board. Fold carefully in half and then in quarters; place in pie plate and open. Trim the edges and roll trimmings into a long, narrow strip. Cut into strips three-quarters inch wide and brush the edge of the pastry on the pie plate with water and add this strip as a reinforcement to build up the edge. Brush the pastry in the bottom of the pie plate with melted shortening thoroughly coating the surface. Then pour in any prepared custard. Reserve one tablespoonful of the custard to brush the pastry around the edges. Bake in slow oven until the custard is firm in the center. Apple Meringue Pie Pare, slice thin and stew juicy apples with about a teacupful of cold water in the bottom of a kettle to prevent burning. When done, mash smoothly, sweeten to taste and flavor slightly with lemon juice. Cover the pie plates with delicate rich paste and fill with the apples, leaving one-quarter of an inch at the top. Bake by a steady, moderate fire until brown, then fill with a meringue made from the whites of two eggs and one tablespoonf ul of sugar. Return to the oven and brown. Serve hot, with cheese. Pastry for Short Cake and Chicken Pie To a pint and a half of flour use one-quarter of a pound of lard, half a teaspoonful of salt, and a light spoonful of yeast powder. Sift the yeast powder with the salt and flour, then rub the lard in until there are no lumps. Then mix into a medium stiif dough with cold water, using a spoon to mix it. It requires very little working. Place in the refrigerator, if in summer, or out in the cold air, if in winter, for an hour before using. Roll thin. Patty Shells Roll out puff paste very thin, and cut in the shape desired — either round, square or 'heart shaped, using cutters which come for the purpose. There are two cutters in each set ; one two or two and a half inches in diameter, and a small one about an inch in diameter. For heart shaped patties for twelve, cut twenty-four pieces with the large cutter ; from twelve of these cut out the center evenly and smoothly, dip the cutters in hot water, working quickly. Rub the edges of the large heart with a little white of egg and put on the heart rings, press lightly together along the edge. With the small cutter cut out small hearts of stale light bread to prevent the bottom crusts rising and filling the cavity. Bake in a pan lined with buttered paper. When done, remove the stale bread and any soft paste that may be under it, being careful not to break the crusts, however, as they will not then hold the soft mixtures which are served in them. The small hearts cut from the centers are baked separately on buttered paper, and when the patties are filled are placed on top for covers. Vol-Au-Vent The puff paste used for these should be rolled, folded and rolled four or five times — making a very light paste. Cut in any shape liked; a large oval is considered the most desirable. The outline may be