Sweet Apple Pie

There is probably no one else in the world that I admire more than my Grandmothers. I was named after both of them and always felt a special connection to them. Both of them were taken way too soon from this earth, but there aren't many days that they do not cross my mind.

If I had a genie and they were to grant me 3 wishes, I would probably wish for 1. to get to spend some time in the kitchen with my mom's mother, 2. to get to spend some time in the kitchen with my dad's mother, and 3. to give me the winning numbers to next week's lottery. :)

I don't get the impression that my mom's mom (Grandma P) loved to cook or bake, but she was really good at it. My mom has never been a fan of spending much time in the kitchen, either and I don't really think she was the type of kid that would stay inside and help my grandmother make dinner or baked goods. 3 things that will always remind me of my grandma P; hard candy, popcorn balls, and pizzelles. Each Christmas, I wish I could sneak into her tin and steal a piece of her powdered sugar coated candy or run over to her house to have a popcorn ball.

Last year for Christmas, I decided to try to make her pizzelles. I gained a massive amount of respect for that woman while I was pouring the batter for my 458th pizzelle and there was still a ton of batter left to go. They didn't even taste like hers. They were cake-y and missing that liquor flavor I remember so vividly from my childhood. Just a hint, I promise. :) I still have some in the freezer and have no interest in eating them. 

My mom probably learned most of her cooking and baking from my dad's mom (Grandma L). My mom married my dad at the ripe age of 19 and moved in beside his mother for the first several years of their marriage. She would spend most of her days with Grandma L and I am always so amazed at what a great resource she is for my dad's side of the family history and recipes.

Recently, my mom and I were discussing this coming week's festivities and were trying to decide on meals for the week. Since we are running in the 5K on Thursday, she suggested we make Grandma L's spaghetti on Wednesday night. There is nothing like that woman's spaghetti. I remember she used to cook the sauce all day long and the whole house would smell so wonderful. We would complain about how hungry we were and there was never anything we could munch on while waiting. She made us wait because she didn't want to have leftovers. :)

After deciding that we would make her spaghetti for Wednesday, I started thinking about other things that I wanted to make of Grandma L's. I started thinking a lot about Thanksgiving dinners at her house and the little table under the clock that was always full of desserts and pies. I wanted to make her apple pie.

I sent out a text to several of my Aunts, my sister and my mom asking if anyone had her recipe. One of my Aunts sent me a text saying "She didn't use a recipe, but I can give you some tips." I took these tips to the kitchen and began to make an apple pie from scratch. As I pulled out my food processor, apple corer, and peeler, I realized just how much work goes into an apple pie.

I never remember my grandmother using a peeler, much less a food processor or apple corer. It took me almost an hour to peel, core, and slice enough apples for 2 pies. I complained every 20 minutes and cut my finger at least twice. I never remember my grandmother complaining, or cutting herself.

I realized a few things in the almost 4 hours that it took me to complete 2 apple pies... 1. I suck at making a pie crust and will definitely be hitting up some professionals (eh hem, lovely Aunts of mine) on how to do so without the dough breaking apart and 2. I wish that she were still around to teach me all of her wonderful tricks about baking and cooking.

My pies turned out pretty ugly, but I think they are going to taste amazing. One of the pie plates that I used was actually a pie plate that my mom got for Grandma L for Christmas one year. When she passed away, my mom kept the pie plate and then I took it from her. I don't know that she ever actually made a pie using this, but it is probably my most cherished kitchen item.

Grandma's Apple Pie
Crust:
using the Crisco Recipe:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 stick crisco vegetable shortening or 3/4 cup crisco vegetable oil (*chilled and cubed*)
4-8 tbsp iced cold water
milk for basting 

Combine flour and salt in a medium bowl.  Add cubes of crisco to flour mixture and cut together using a pastry blender (or if you don't have one, using a food processor) until mixture looks like crumbles. Add in 4 tbsp of ice water and continue adding while mixing the flour with the water until the flour sticks together. Shape into 2 balls, 1 slightly larger than the other. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 2 days.


Roll out larger dough ball thinly and place in a 9 inch pie pan (here is where I had issues, it kept breaking, so I thinned out the dough in the pan). Add filling. Roll out the smaller dough ball and either cut into strips for lattice or place over filling and press down at edges. Cut an initial or design in the top of the crust to allow for venting. 


Bake at 400F for 20 minutes, reduce to 350F for 45 minutes. *place tin foil on the rack under because they will boil over in the oven.

Filling:
3 lbs of 2 different types of apples (I used 1.5 lb golden delicious and 1.5 lb fugi)
1 cup of sugar
2 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp lemon juice
dash of nutmeg (optional)
dash of flour (optional)


Peel, core and slice apples thinly. Add sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice, nutmeg and flour. Mix together.