Favorite Apple Pie

Several years ago, I decided to write down EVERYTHING I cooked for one year. My thinking was that if I documented all my cooking over a year, I would collect all the recipes and foods my family loved and my kids -teens on the cusp of leaving the home hearth- would then be able to cook the remembered foods of home at any time in their future (A much bigger and less straightforward project than I'd thought it would be). September is apple season here in Washington state and I made this pie on September 11 during the year of documenting everything I cooked. I added, "It seems fitting to make this on this day -which has come to signify so much to so many Americans." I believe in celebrating the foods of each season (and each season with its foods) and also the comfort found in the rituals of cooking and sharing foods. Picking apples from our orchard to make into a pie to serve to my family is a reminder to me that despite there always being a few bug spots in the apples (and in life), life is good. And its better with ice cream.



Favorite Apple Pie
Adapted from Farm Journal's Country Cookbook
Make a double crust pastry and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
Peel, core and slice apples to make 6 cups and toss with:
1-2 T. lemon juice
1/3 c. apple juice or cider
1/3 c. apple butter (optional)

Mix:
2 T. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/8 t. ginger
1/8 t. salt
Add mix to apples and toss. Scrape all into pastry-lined Pyrex pie dish. Dot with butter, moisten edge and place on top crust. Seal and flute edges together. Cut vents. Place pie dish on a pizza sheet (to catch drips and save yourself an oven mess) and bake 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 35o and bake 45 minutes longer. Serve with ice cream.