Delicious Pie Crust

I'm going to admit, I almost never make a home-made pie crust, because A. store bought is easier B. they scare me C. I am terrible at making the crust look nice and D. store bought is easier.  But I was making quiche the other night and didn't have a crust in the freezer.  What's a girl to do?  : )  I found this recipe and I love it.  So I guess I'm no longer afraid to make homemade pie crusts.  : )

Paula's Becky's Perfect Pie Crust
Yield: 2 (9-inch) pie crusts

2 1/2 C. all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. table salt
3 Tbsp sugar, optional (if you want a sweeter crust)
1/4 C. vegetable shortening
12 Tbsp. butter, cold and cubed
1/4 C. to 1/2 C. ice water

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, salt and sugar, if using.  Add the shortening and cut it into the flour mixture using a pastry blender until it's cut into small pieces.  Transfer mixture to a food processor and add the cold butter.  Pulse/blend until the mixture is crumbly, like very coarse corn meal.  Add the ice water, about 1-2 tablespoons at a time, mixing after each addition until the mixture comes together forming a dough.  (If you don't have a food processor, you can do all of this with a pastry blender or a fork.)  Remove from the food processor and bring the dough together into a ball.  Divide the dough in half and flatten it slightly to form a disk shape.  Wrap each disk in plastic wrap ad chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.  On a floured surface roll each disk out into a 10 to 11-inch circle to make a 9-inch pie.
The crust was delicious and flaky and it wasn't tough.  I loved it!
(After we put the pastry in the pie plate and, for the first time ever, made an acceptable looking crust, we used the excess pieces that we had cut off, to make a little dessert.  We spread some melted butter on the extra pieces, sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar and baked them at 350° until done.  Mmmmm.)

Recipe altered slightly from foodnetwork.com