We had to cut down one of our apple trees this weekend.  It was old, the trunk was half rotten and it was leaning so far over that we couldn’t mow under it any longer.  But it still produced apples.  Once it was down, Anna was able to climb up into the branches and pick the best apples; the ones  that are always so high, they’re just out of reach.

I learned to make apple pie from my Granny and Jimmy’s grandmother.  They both made a mean apple pie.  Believe it or not, this is one of the easiest pies to make.  The peeling and slicing of the apples takes a little time, but once you’re done with that, it’s real quick to put together because you can stir it all together in one bowl and pour it into the crust.  Or you can place the sliced apples in the crust and sprinkle the other ingredients over the top.  They’ll bake down into the pie and turn out just as well as if you’d mixed it together.

Ingredients:

about 4-6 cups peeled and sliced apples (enough for apple slices to mound up some once they’re placed in the pie plate); the grandmothers advised to not use a “delicious” apple (as in red delicious or golden delicious) I have no idea what kind of apple tree we cut down, but I’ve used Granny Smith’s, Galas, Jonathan, and Winesap apples with good success

1 cup granulated white sugar (or a little more if the apples are very tart)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 pinch nutmeg

1 pinch allspice

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 heaping Tablespoons flour

2 Tablespoons butter, cubed

1 teaspoon vanilla

pie pastry enough for a two crust pie – Try my pie crust recipe found in another entry.  It’s simple to make.

Peel and slice apples into thin slices.  Place in a bowl and add the other ingredients, or place the apple slices directly into an unbaked pie shell and sprinkle the other ingredients over the top.  The apples should be slightly heaping in the pie plate because they will bake down some.

Cover with a top crust.  You have two options for the top crust, you can either roll the dough out in a circle and place the whole thing over the pie for a full top crust, or you can cut the top crust into strips and weave into a lattice design.  If you use the whole crust, be sure to prick a few holes in the top so steam can escape.

Once you have the lattice crust in place, trim the excess, fold under the edges and crimp around the crust as shown.

Brush the top crust with milk, which will give the baked pie a nice glossy sheen.

Optionally, you can sprinkle sugar lightly over the top crust before baking.  I sprinkled this pie with coarse sugar used for cake decorating, but I typically use regular granulated sugar.  Bake at 400 degrees for one hour, or until apples are tender (you can test them with a fork for tenderness) and crust is nicely browned.  This pie is best (a must at our house) served warm with ice cream.

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