When you are ready to bake, prick the crust in several spot with a fork, line the pie plate or tart shell with foil or parchment paper, and fill it with rice or dried beans. Bake as directed then carefully remove the foil and the beans--the shell will have retained its form because of them. I like seeing how a substance that weighs heavily can, in the end, be lifted; I like the feel of the beans, like trouble that slips through your fingers. Most of all, I like the proof in the pastry: it is the things we have to bear that shape us. 
(~Jodi Picoult, Handle with Care, p. 123)