Pie crust, cakes and more: made perfect.

I suppose as good a way to start as any is to share one of my favorite cookbooks. It is by the editors of the Cook's Illustrated magazine and is great for both novice and more advanced bakers. Each recipe is carefully tested in their kitchen and the steps they have taken to provide you with the perfect cookie/cake/brownie recipe are carefully explained. I have found that their bread recipes are often overly complicated but I have never experienced any of their recipes actually failing and I recently made my very first perfect pie crust with their "basic pie crust" recipe (it was for a rhubarb-peach pie which, incidentally, turned out to be a delicious combination). The recipe involves part Crisco, part butter and while I am usually a gung-ho advocate of all butter in baking the combination of vegetable shortening and butter in the crust created a perfectly tender and flaky crust.
Basic Pie Dough
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 t salt
2 T sugar
1 cup vegetable shortening
12 T cold unsalted butter (cut into small pieces)
6-8 T ice water

1. Combine by hand or with a handy-dandy food processor the salt, sugar and flour. Then add the shortening until the mixture looks sort of like coarse sand (just no much-bigger-than-a-pea pieces). Finally scatter the butter pieces over the top and combine to a cornmeal-like consistency with either a knife and fork, your fingers or the aforementioned handy-dandy food processor.
2. Sprinkle ice water over the mixture and fold in with a spatula. Press down on dough until it sticks together, if it doesn't add more water.
3. Divide dough into 2 disks and refrigerate at least one hour (or up to 2 days) before using.
*I recommend rolling out pie dough between two sheets of wax paper or plastic wrap since it greatly eases the process of getting the dough off the counter and into your pie pan.

I hope you have as much luck with this recipe as I did...please let me know any additions/comments/improvements you have!