Strawberry Rhubarb Filling:

1. In a bowl combine the chopped strawberries, rhubarb, sugar, cornstarch and salt. Let sit for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pie Crust:

1. In a bowl whisk together the flour and salt.
2. With a pie cutter, cut in the shortening until the particles look like wet sand.
3. Sprinkle in water, 1 tsp or so at a time, mixing lightly with a fork. Don’t over mix or the crust will be tough. You don’t have to add all of the water if you find the dough moist enough.
4. Press into a ball.
5. Separate the ball into 2 balls: about 2/3 for the bottom and 1/3 for the lattice top. If you aren’t making a lattice crust, split the dough into 2 even balls (one for the bottom crust and one for the top).
6. Place the dough balls (one at a time) onto a lightly floured sheet of parchment paper.  Roll out the balls to a 1/8 inch thickness.

Baking the pie:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. Put the largest rolled out section of crust into your pie plate. Gently press in, then trim the edges with a knife.  If you want to make a crimped pie crust edge you can see how to do that in this post here.
3. Add the strawberry rhubarb filling.
4. Dot the filling with small pieces of the butter.
5. If you are doing a traditional crust, add on the other rolled out section of pie crust. OR If you want to add a simple lattice top, roll out the dough into 10 inch square and using a pizza cutter cut out 14 – 16 long strips about 1/2 inch wide. Then arrange them in a crisscross pattern (to learn more about how to do this, visit my post here).
6. Press together the edges of the crust. Then trim off the extra dough.
7. If you are using a closed top, make sure to cut vents into the top crust. I usually make 4 vents.
8. Brush the crust lightly with milk, then generously sprinkle the crust with a cinnamon and sugar mix.
9. In your preheated 400 degree oven, bake your pie for 15 minutes.
10. Then after this time slip a cookie sheet onto the rack below your pie, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees, and bake for 35-40 minutes more. Bake until the crust is golden brown and your filling is bubbling in the vents.