PIE!!!

I'm not a big pie maker, but this time of the year I make the exception. The weather here is screaming apple pie...I had to break out my favorite pie crust recipe and get going. This year I tried a new crust recipe and tried out Honeycrisp apples also. We'll cut into these babies after dinner and I'll let you know how they turned out.

The pie on the left is my trustworthy crust recipe with my favorite pie apple, New Zealand Fuji's. I tried Washington Fuji's a couple of times, and it isn't the same....so it has to be New Zealand for me. Also, I'm a little wierd in that I like my crust thick and doughy...almost like a cobbler. No thin and flaky for me, ma'am...bring on the cholesterol....Here is my favorite crust recipe with my apple pie recipe....

Crust

(Marcia Adams "New Recipes from Quilt Country" -BTW, "Cooking From Quilt Country" is a fab cookbook!)

Makes enogh for 2 pies with top crusts (unless you are like me and use alot of dough)

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp sugar

2 Tsp salt

1 3/4 cup butter flavored shortening (yeah, yeah, yeah shortening is bad.....whatever....)

1 egg

1 Tbsp cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

Combine flour, sugar, salt and shortening in a large mixer bowl and blend (food processor, Kitchen Aid, Bosch, whatever you have) until it has the texture of coarse crumbs. In small bowl, whisk or beat together the egg, vinegar and water. Drizzle over the flour mixture and mix thoroughly. Shape the dough into a patty, wrap in plastic wrap, and place in the freezer for 45 minutes, or refrigerate overnight.

When chilled, form the dough into a long roll, then divide into fourths. Roll and use immediately, or wrap each portion separately and fridge or freeze.

Apple Pie

revised from "The Good Housekeeping Cookbook" my grandma gave me 22 years ago.

6 - 7 cups peeled, cored and sliced thin apples

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 Tbsp flour

1 tsp lemon zest

2 tsp lemon juice (I just used half a lemon and squeezed)

1 - 2 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 425. mix dry ingredients together and mix into apples, squeeze lemon juice and zest into apples and stir. pour into prepared pie crust. top with pieces of the butter and cover with top crust.

I like to wrap the edge of the pie with foil to keep them from browning too much. I bake for 40 minutes, then take off the foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes. Another thing I like to do is put a cookie sheet or piece of foil on the rack below the pies so that the juices that spill don't get all over the oven.