Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix flour and salt. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender or two knives moving crisscross across the dough. Do not blend too much as the pieces of shortening about the size of small peas in the dough are what cause the crust to be tender. Sprinkle water over the dough one tablespoon at a time and blend with a fork. Use only as much water as required to make the pastry hold together in a ball. Put the ball of dough on a floured board or waxed paper. Roll it out to about 1/8 inch thick. Smear butter on the bottom and sides of the baking dish. Cut one large piece of dough to cover the bottom of the baking dish. If the dough tears or it is hard to get one big piece, just fill in with additional pieces. It will all taste the same.
Mix the sugar and salt. Place 1/2 of fruit in pan on top of the dough. Sprinkle with sugar and salt. Place pats of butter on the layer of fruit. Place the second layer of fruit in the pan and sprinkle it with salt and sugar. Place pats of butter on the fruit. Cut strips of dough and place across the top of the pan in one direction. Place another set of strips of dough across the pan in the other direction. Or have a little fun and place the strips of dough diagonally across the pan. Bake 40 to 50 minutes. Both crusts should be golden brown.
Virginia told of the time that she made a peach cobbler sprinkled by mistake with lots of red (cayenne) pepper instead of cinnamon. Cobbler is good served hot, but that one was too hot.
© 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003 Portia Isaacson Bass and Veta Leigh. All rights reserved.