Katie's Apple Pie: The Recipe!

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Hi everyone! Fall is definitely in the air (winter in Buffalo!) so I thought I'd tell you a fun family activity that I enjoy every year around this time with my girls. We go apple picking …(God, I am as American as apple pie!) It's such a fun thing to do. It's great to get outside and soak up the fall air, get back to nature and enjoy an apple as you pick bushels more! I always get weirdly hoardish (is that a word?) and carried away whenever I do this kind of thing. One time I picked enough strawberries to make jam for the entire island of Manhattan! Weird.

Oh well, anyway, as I was saying, it's a wonderful activity…and the apple varieties that are available change ALL THE TIME! I was slightly bummed out when we went last weekend we missed my very favorite kind of apple: it's called a Honeycrisp and it's a fantastic eating apple. Mushy apples are the most disappointing, "un-a-peeling" (HA HA) culinary experience there is. My other favorite apples are the Macoun and Fuji.. Then there's the MacIntosh…which borders on mushy but has enough tartness to make up for that fact. But I digress. (I think I need a real hobby!)

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We picked on Long Island this year with my friends Lori and Mark and their three children (including their son Jay, who is named after my husband.) The varieties we plucked straight off the branches were: Jonagold, Mutsus (sounds like a Japanese compact vehicle…by the way, these apples were GINORMOUS!) that old stand by the Golden Delicious, Stayman, Empire, and Royal Gala, which are good for eating, but not cooking, you crazy bakers out there!

When all was said and done, given my propensity for over-picking previously mentioned, we had amassed four bushels of apples! Ergo, my apple pie bonanza the other day. I made four pies (helped by my 10-year-old, her friend Katherine and her mother Pat) and an apple crisp. I must say, they were pretty darn tasty (or so I'm told…I did not consume them all!) Martha, eat your heart out!

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Of course, my crust is store-bought. But I have to tell you, those Pillsbury already-made pie crusts in the biscuit section are really good! I thought I'd share this recipe with you, because if you decide to go picking this weekend, you may want to whip up a few pies…if you do it with your kids, it's a great way to teach them math too! (This is so wholesome, I'm about to throw up!) Anyway, here it is: remember, if I can do it, you can do it! (that's what I tell everyone about my colonscopy, but we can chat about that another time!)

Have a great weekend!

Katie's Apple Pie
8 medium apples (3 to 3 ½ pounds) peeled, cored and sliced 1/8 inches thick.
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
1 ½ tablespoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 double pie crust
1 tablespoon unsalted butter—cut into small pieces
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine the apples, sugar, cinnamon, salt and flour and toss until the apples are well coated.
Pour the apple mixture into the bottom crust and sprinkle evenly with the butter pieces.
Place the top crust over the apples.
Trim and crimp the edges. Cut slits in the top crust for the steam to escape.
Bake for 50 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the filling bubbles.
Serve warm or at room temperature.

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