Eye for a pie

Hot outta the oven!

It felt as if summer took forever to end, but fall is finally upon us. I’ve been raking leaves, making soup, and wearing scarves. Sunday Tom and I went apple and pumpkin pickin’! We had a great time and got a lot of apples. I had recently made a caramelized apple upside down cake, but was at a loss as to how to use these newly picked apples. Finally I thought, “Why get crazy? Just go classic!”

In the oven it goes!

So I made the quintessential apple pie. I whipped up a pie crust first. Then I put Tom to work peeling slicing the apples. I tossed the apples in cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and little vanilla. Then I filled my pie crust and poured a whisked egg over it. I used leftover pie dough to make a (sloppy) lattice on top. The lattice was brushed with butter and sprinkled with Sugar in the Raw (my new pastry staple!)

The pie (thank goodness!) came out pretty darn good if I do say so myself. It’s not the prettiest of pies, but one taste and looks are no longer important. I cannot wait to make this again; it’s so simple and tasty. 

Here’s how I made my crust:

½ cup butter

Bringing the dog pumpkin pickin' and gettin' a lick!

2 tablespoons Crisco

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (plus 3 tablespoons for rolling)

1 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons iced water

 Mix flour and salt together. Dice butter and add to flour mixture along with the Crisco. Use a potato masher to get a crumbly texture. Then add the iced water and form into a ball. Flatten into a 5 in. disc and place in freezer for 10 minutes. While you wait, butter the pie pan. Roll out dough on a floured surface, keeping dough in a circle shape. Roll dough onto pin then unroll it onto the pie pan. Gently push dough into pan and crimp edges. You can either bake at 350 for 10 minutes or not (I like a soft lower crust, so I don’t pre-bake my crust.)