Mom & Apple Pie

We went apple picking, for the second time this fall, at our favorite little family owned orchard in Wisconsin. It was a beautiful day & we managed to pick a full bushel of apples, Golden Delicious, Empires, Jonathans, and HoneyCrisp. When we got home, the girls and I made a pie, here is how we did it:

First pick 8 or 9 apples, we used Golden delicious:

Next, mix up a crust for a double crust, 9 inch pie. My recipe is simple, 2 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 cup Crisco, 1/4 cup butter, 6 Tbsp ice water. I mix all the ingredients, except for the water, in my KitchenAid mixer, until it's the consistency of sand, with small pea sized pieces of Crisco and butter. I sprinkle the ice water on top & mix it gently with a fork a Tbsp at a time until it holds together. This keeps the pastry nice & flaky.

I roll out 1/2 the dough and line the pan with it:

I peel & slice the apples and mix with 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp. cinnamon, and 2 Tbsp flour:

Turn the apples into the pie crust and dot with 2 Tbsp butter, cut into small chunks:

Roll out the second crust, lay over the top and crimp the edges together, cut slits in the top crust so the steam can escape. Also I brush the top crust with milk and sprinkle with sugar, for a nice finish:

Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 375 and bake for an additional 45 minutes. I had a beautiful picture of the finished product, but something happened to my camera battery & it didn't save. Trust me, it was beautiful! Now you can make Mom's Apple Pie too!