Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Apple Pie

Pie has a central place in our family.  My Grandpa Allred loves pie--but only round pieces (meaning the entire thing!)  As I recall, my Grandma Allred learned to make a good pie crust because Grandpa loved the crust so much.  And it seems she always seemed to win the ward pie contest.  And instead of cake for his birthday, my dad always chose to have a cherry pie.  
The first time I really remember making pie was my freshman year at BYU.  I had watched my mom make it a million times and she had helped me make some in high school but I had never done it on my own before. Somehow at college word got out that I made pie.  Boys would bring me a big bag of Granny Smith Apples in exchange for a freshly baked pie.
After I married and moved away our little town hosted a pie contest--and I won the first place apple pie!  --Jeanine




Apple Pie:

Double Crust:

3 cups flour
1 cup Crisco shortening (frozen if possible)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
7-9 ice cold water (sometimes more!)

Mix flour and salt.  Cut in shortening.  Slowly add ice water while mixing until you have dough.  Don't over mix!  Roll out on floured surface.

Filling:
 6 Granny Smith apples--pared, cored, thinly sliced and sprinkled with lemon juice
3/4 to 1 cup sugar
2 TB flour
1/2 to 1 tsp cinnamon
dash of salt
dash of nutmeg

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Combine sugar, flour, spices, and salt.  Mix with apples.  Line pie plate with pastry.  Fill with apple mixture; dot with butter.  Adjust top crust, cutting slits for steam.  Seal.  Sprinkle with sugar.  Bake at 450 for 15 minutes.  Lower oven to 400 and cook about 35 minutes more or until golden brown.

2 comments:

  1. Yum! I need some pie now. Who's making me one?

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  2. My mother was a Home Ec teacher, but she didn't know how to make a good pie crust. When she taught cooking to her classes, she always demonstrated how to make the item -- except for pie crust. She would tell the class that she wouldn't always be there to help them, so they had to figure it out on their own. When she got engaged and realized that my dad's favorite dessert was pie, she panicked. She went to the other Home Ec teacher and asked for help in making a good pie crust. The trick is to keep the Crisco COLD. By the way, my dad only likes two kinds of pie -- hot and cold. In other words, any kind!

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