bake : apple pie

apples : pie : home

Hi All -

Well, I finally got around to making Scott a pie from our apple picking in the Berkshires. It took me over a week to get to it as I don't bake as much as I used to. Throw in taking photos of the end product on a rainy day with only natural light from the window (or, lack thereof) and it's even more daunting. I really admire the talent of Aran and Helen in the kitchen and behind the camera.



Growing up my Mom did just about all of the domestic stuff in our house. She was a a great cook and made all kinds of fancy dishes, but sadly she never thought they were good enough. I was a domestic goddess in training at an early age though with an easy bake oven, pretend vacuum cleaner, sewing machine, and all kinds of craft projects. When I married Scott, I didn't know anything about real chores like food shopping, cooking, laundry, etc. I didn't go away to college, but he did, so he taught me. I would tease him and complain that I was 'burnt out' from all the stuff I did as a kid.



Then, I became a Martha-wannabe and turned 180° in the other direction. Although I didn't really have an interest in the day-to-day cooking, I would take care of the holiday feasts. I even went so far as to make that crazy puff pastry-wrapped turkey one year, which I think Martha even laughs about, now. It looks great until you try to carve the darn thing! I still enjoy reading the magazine Martha's team creates, but I have other things I like to do, lately.

In the interest of full disclosure, this pie was made using an improvised recipe and I didn't make the pastry crust from scratch. I was going to, but decided to just buy a frozen one - B. Smith's favorite from Pillsbury. While it was frozen, I transplanted it into my baking dish, added the apples and spices, and then put on the top crust. It tastes just fine and with those apples, you can't go wrong.

xo, Cindy