Saturday, whilst the men went bow hunting~~and subsequently didn’t get to, because it was raining and rain ruins bow strings. Who knew?~~the girl and I went to my parents house.
We went for the sole purpose of having mom show me how she makes her apple pie.
I told her that I wanted her to make it exactly how she makes it every time.
Ma gets her recipe from this cookbook.
Sister~~seeing as how you have already “borrowed” 452 of mother’s cookbooks, and we all know she will never see them again…I have dibs on this one.
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First, she picks out her oldest apples.
And peels them.
No, these aren’t mom’s hands.
Lesson #1. Mom doesn’t peel the apples. It is important when making an apple pie that you make the man in your life peel them.
Lesson #2. Make sure you eat a peel or 2. The pie won’t be any good if this particular step is not taken.
Slice your apples thin. No larger than a quarter inch.
After you have 8 cups of apples, make sure the man in your life cleans up his mess.
Mom is a stickler for cleaned up messes.
Lesson #3. Always have a towel over your shoulder. You never know when you will need it.
Add sugar, which I didn’t get a picture of because she dumped it in before I could even raise my camera to my face.
Same thing happened with corn starch. and lemon juice. Also add cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg.
Guess what I don’t have pictures of…
Stir all this loveliness together and let sit while the pie crust is being made.
When I told her that my friend Applie doesn’t make her own pie crust, she had the same reaction I did.
I know. It is shocking.
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Take a look at your filling. Have the apples macerated to much in their own juice? If so, add a bit more corn starch.
Poor the filling into your crust.
Dot with butter.
Now it is time to make the dodos.
I have been making them wrong all this time.
Lesson #4. Roll out your dough excruciatingly thin, and butter all the way to the edge.
Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.
Roll them up and slice. Put them in the oven whilst you are making the crumb topping for the pie. That way they are finished by the time you are ready to go into the living room and chat.
Sprinkle the crumb topping on the filling and bake.
Because ma is a pioneer in the cleaning field, (and she doesn’t own a bench knife) Lesson #5 is, sweep your counter clean.
Now the dodos are ready.
I refuse to tell just how many I ate.
Nope. Not gonna tell.
Wild horses couldn’t drag out that I only had 8 6 of them.
Lesson #6. This is one of the most important. Have the man load your dish washer.
I told ya ma was a pioneer in the cleaning field.
Make sure that you put a pan under your pie. It might bubble over.
It truly doesn’t get any better than this.
Good food, great company and the love of family.
Ma’s Perfect Apple Crumb Pie
- 6-7 c. apples ~~dad always peels and slices 8 cups. He doesn’t want “some wimpy pie”
- 1 c. sugar
- 2 tbsp. corn starch ~~add more if filling is juicy
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- dash nutmeg
- 1/8-1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
- butter for dotting
Mix this all together and pour into an unbaked pie shell. Top with crumb topping. Bake at 400º for 10 minutes and drop to 375º for 35-40 more minutes or until it is done.
Crumb topping
- 1/3 c. sugar
- 3/4 c. flour
- 6 tbsp. butter
Cut butter into flour and sugar. This recipe is generally 1 and a halved or doubled. If you don’t like much of a sweet pie, then don’t double.
If you’d like to see what I have been raving over, and had the priviledge of eating all my life, then make this pie.
Let me know if you liked it.
And I just gotta ask…
How many of you wear a towel over your shoulder while you bake/cook?
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