Fall time is here which means Apple Pies. And yes, we went to the Apple Orchard (all the way to Gays Mills, WI, I might add) to hand-pick a couple of bushels of apples to make some mouth-watering, tasty Apple Pie. At least that is what people tell me about my apple pies as I have had a number of requests for the upcoming holiday season. What people actually say, is that they melt in your mouth!
So for this third annual pie baking day, we are all set for some serious pie baking. My recipe is my own idea of combining both my own Grandma Betty Coleman's pie crust recipe with Grandma Rittgers apple mixture recipe. I decided to call it Heritage Apple Pie because I take my favorite ingredients from both recipes and then add an additional spice of my own choosing. Now mix that with the key ingredients of your husband (or another male relative) completely cleaning the kitchen beforehand (a good incentive if they want pies), shopping done beforehand, help watching the kids, a block of an afternoon, and minimum cleanup. My friend Sarah and I are usually able to whip out about six pies to eight pies in a couple of hours this way. Now top that off with Cortland Baking Apples and you have some yummy pie!
Sarah and I have a system down when it comes to baking pies. She does the crust (the part she likes) and I do the apples (the part I like). Fortunately, this year I was able to use a real apple peeler that made peeling and coring the apples a lot slicker. I would wash the apples, peel them, and then make sure the slices were a reasonable size. Once I have the amount required, I mix up the delightful, apple "insides" and put them into the empty pie crust topping it with a little butter. While I am peeling, Sarah, with her arms deep in flour and her apron on, uses the cleaned kitchen counter to mix and roll her crusts. After she rolls another piece out and tops the pie off, she has her scissors ready to trim away the excess dough and make five apple seed slits. She then uses water to seal the edges finishing with pressing them down. Sarah makes the pies look good with the crust and I make the apples melt in your mouth.
Everyone around here has been screaming apple pie ever since I purchased the apples! And as soon as I sent out the text "Pie baking in oven," immediately everyone responded that they were coming over later that evening to have some of that mouth-watering apple pie. I just recommend serving it warm with the French Vanilla Ice Cream and a glass of milk that you told them to pick-up on the way over! Happy Pie Baking!
