Perfect Apple Pie

Sorry I’m still not posting regularly. I’ve been preoccupied with an in-vitro cycle that did not end well. You can read more about it on my other blog if you’re interested.

Fall is my favorite season. I love the crisp, cool mornings, the bright colors on the trees and, of course, going apple picking! Okay, I confess. I didn’t actually pick the apples for this pie. (Unless you count the fact that I picked them out of the bin at the farm stand.) It was pouring the weekend I wanted to go, but I had just purchased a couple of new kitchen gadgets I wanted to try out. I had to make a pie.

The first gadget I got was a double sided lattice cutter from King Arthur Flour. (It’s always dangerous when that catalog shows up at my house!) I guess I was feeling kind of mushy the day I made the pie, because I went with hearts. Aren’t they cute?

The other item I bought was an apple peeler/corer/slicer. Have you seen these gadgets? I’ve been scoffing at them for years, thinking they slice the apples too thin. Then I discovered you can use them to peel without slicing, and now I suddenly needed one! You can even use it to peel potatoes. Just to be fair, I tried making the pie with the thin slices it produced. I was actually a great pie. I thought the apples might cook too quickly and turn to mush, but they were perfect.

This recipe is adapted from a 1968 edition of the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book.

Ingredients:
6 cups (about 6 to 8) tart apples, pared, cored and thinly sliced (Granny Smiths work great!)
3/4 to 1 cup sugar, use a mixture of half white and half light brown
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
dash ground nutmeg
pastry for 2-crust 9-inch pie
2 tablespoons butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400ºF. Prepare pastry for pie crust. If apples lack tartness, sprinkle with about 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Combine sugar, flour, spices, and dash salt; mix with apples. Line 9-inch pie plate with pastry. Fill with apple mixture; dot with butter. Adjust top crust, cutting slits for escape of steam; seal. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 400ºF for 50 minutes or till done.

Serves 8.

Apple Crumb Pie
Prepare as above, except substitute single-crust pastry recipe for double-crust pastry recipe. Stir together 1/2 cup all-purpose flour and 1/2 cup packed brown sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in 3 tablespoons butter till mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over apple mixture.

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