It's that time of year....

Out with the old, in with the new. It's fall cleaning time again. Why does it seem like I just cleaned out dresser drawers and closets? Yet here it is, time to replace the winter clothes in the attic with the summer clothes. Time to pull out my bread pans as this is the time of year I love to bake. There is nothing like walking into a warm kitchen with the lingering smell of pumpkin bread or apple pies or rising yeast rolls....the list goes on. Yum. :)

My favorite would have to be the constant orange spice tea that is being made from scratch. The smell of cinnamon and cloves bursting throughout the house. To me that just screams "fall is here"!!! *laughing*

Here is my famous apple pie recipe. It's absolutely no fail. Easy as...well...pie. *grin*

(the secret to the crust is that you will be using both shortening AND butter. Why, you ask? Because this way you'll achieve the crumbly AND the flaky.)

The Crust

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons shortening
6 to 8 tablespoons ice water

Leave the butter out until it is VERY soft - but not anywhere close to melted. In a large bowl mix your flour, salt and sugar. Then cut in your butter shortening and ice water. The trick here is to not overwork your dough. Cut it in gently while using swift strokes. For into a ball, wrap in saran wrap and stick in the fridge for about 20 minutes.

The Pie

1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup water
8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced


Melt the butter in a small pan on the stove. Then stir in the flour until it looks like a paste. Then add white sugar, brown sugar and water. When it comes to a boil, reduce temp and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Peel and cut your apples into a large bowl. Take you cinnamon and nutmeg and sprinkle over apples. Gently stir. Make sure you resist the temptation to add the cinnamon and nutmeg to the sauce on the stove. Seriously. What you'll end up with is an ugly dark pie. It'll be good but it won't look it. LOL

Roll out your dough to about 1/8 thickness (or however you like it). Place on bottom of pie plate. Fill with apples (using the "mound" method). Once full, very slowly and very gently, pour mixture from stove over apples.

Roll out top crust and place over pie. Make slits on top of crust. Using leftover dough to make cut out flowers or whatnots is a cute way to top it off. My kids have always loved the way I do that.

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE:

Make sure you have a completely pre-heated oven before sticking this in.

pre-heat to 425 and bake for 15 minutes. Then REDUCE to 350 and continue to bake for about 40 minutes.

Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes before serving. (also important step to not overlook...LOL)

ENJOY!!!

:)