Cherish Every Moment: September 2013

You guys saw my previous post about my apple picking adventures, and if not go check it out now! So if you were wondering what I did with that whole bushel of apples, here is the post that answers that :) This pie is a favorite in my family and I promise it will be in yours too, enjoy!

Here's what you will need:

6 Apples (I like Golden apples but whatever you like most will work)

Double layer pie crust--I buy the Pillsbury packaged ones--they come in a roll and are two to a pack which makes the process way easier--you will need just two but I often find that having an extra pack on hand for any mistakes or to reshape the crust is really handy.
3/4 Cups of white granulated sugar
One medium orange
2 Tbsp Flour
Lemon juice
1 Tsp of cinnamon
1 egg
1/4 Tsp of Salt
1/4 Tsp of Nutmeg

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit

Take your glass pie plate and prepare it for baking by either spraying it with non-stick spray or doing like I like to do and smearing a little butter around the whole thing evenly coating it.
Next you want to peel all of your apples and slice them thinly removing the core parts.

Once your chopped apples are in a bowl, squeeze a little lemon juice over top of them to assure that they don't turn brown while you are preparing everything else. Brown isn't a bad thing, it's just an esthetic thing ;)
After this you will want to add everything else on your ingredients list. For the orange you want to use a zester/microplane or grater to zest the orange--I use 3/4 of the orange but if you're really not into the whole orange thing you can use none at all or 1/2 of the zest from the orange. I personally love the way the orange brings out all of the delicious the flavors we are going to add atop the apples, it's a perfect twist :)

Spread out the pie crust in the bottom of the pie pan assuring that there are no air bubbles, mine was a little short (this can be fixed by using a rolling pin to flatten it out a bit more) but ideally it would hang a smidge over the side of the plate.
Next place all of your seasoned apples in the pie plate and even out.

Now roll out that second pie crust and cover the apples, there are two ways I like to do so, either a traditional cover-all or a lattice design, either way is beautiful :)

This one is only partially completed, but it is a lattice design, it's actually rather easy to achieve, just have to get the pattern down :) My boyfriend did it because I was having no luck with hand eye coordination this evening hahaha We looked up a YouTube video on how to make this top layer so if you aren't sure by just looking at the photo, just watch a video :)

Pictured here is the traditional cover-all design which consists of covering the whole pie and crimping the edges with a fork to seal them together. We then make four slits in the top so that the pie can "breathe" and bake thoroughly.

After covering the pie with either design, you will want to make an egg wash of beaten egg with a teaspoon of water. Brush this over top the crust evenly and pop them in the oven for about an hour continuously checking on them. If your edges start to brown too quickly too soon in the baking process, cover them in aluminum foil or a pie crust cover, those are super handy! Continue baking and then let them set to cool for about an hour or so so that everything can come together and not be watery.

**There is a chance that the pie will bubble over because the juices that are being made on the inside are that divine, just place some foil or a baking sheet underneath of the pie at the beginning of the baking process to keep your oven clean.

Last but not least, let your taste buds enjoy :) This can be served with a scoop of vanilla ice scream for a really rich treat!

This gal has baked three of these in the past two weeks,
xox

Apples are in season!!! You know what that means, Fall is officially here and pies need to be made haha I love apple pie, it is probably my favorite pie but here is the kicker, I don't like apple sauce, apple juice or even apples alone very much. Apple pie is just special I guess :) I have gone apple picking many times before but never thought to post about it. I love reading posts like this because it can get one in the mood to branch out and do something fun that they perhaps haven't done before. I highly recommend looking up where your local "pick your own" farms are--they can be visited all year long for different crops. We go pumpkin picking and also cut down our own Christmas Tree every year as well :)

Here is a site that you can use to locate these PYO farms near you: http://www.pickyourown.org/