When Penelope first came across a recipe instructing her to “blind bake” a pie crust, she couldn’t picture trying to get the pie crust in the oven while wearing the waffled cotton eye protector she brought home from her favorite day spa. It seemed unnecessarily dangerous. But no, “blind baking” actually meant baking the pie crust separately before adding any filling, to prevent the bottom from becoming soggy. Which also meant, if you were undecided about what kind of filling to put in, you could blind bake a bunch of bottom crusts and decide later. Penelope loved that. Having options and being able to look while you were making the pie. Here’s how…Cut a sheet of parchment paper 2 inches larger than the diameter of the pie pan. Crumple the paper into a ball and then open it up and line the pie crust with it. Put a layer of beans, or rice, or pie weights over the paper, pressing gently so that the weights or rice rest firmly against the sides of the shell. Bake according to your recipe. Remove the weights and paper.