Apples!

Every year I look forward to the first apples of autumn, usually Paula Reds and Macintosh. These first apples are sour and hard, but within a few days begin to soften and become my favorites.
Tony loves fresh apple pie, so when the new apples appear in September, I like to make a pie. For my health conscious readers, I apologize, fully knowing that apple pie is an unhealthy food! Nevertheless, it is a treat, and sometimes we need to treat ourselves.

My favorite pie crust recipe came from my friend Sue who is no longer with us and sadly missed in our group of friends. This is a great recipe because it’s very easy to make and rolls out quickly. The recipe makes two pies; I prefer to make more than one pie at a time because it's pretty messy work.

Please see in the top picture all the pies I’ve made today. There is one large and two small apple pies plus a pie crust. The larger pie was baked today and you can see the results in the bottom picture. The small pies were packed in the freezer to bake for Tony another day. The pie crust was frozen with plans to bring out on October 5, Cathy’s birthday, to fill with bananas and cream, Cathy’s favorite pie.

Here’s the pie crust recipe:

Sue’s Pie Crust

4 cups flour

1 Tbsp. Sugar

2 tsp. Salt

1 ¾ c. vegetable shortening such as Crisco

2 Tbsp. White vinegar

1 egg

½ cup water

Combine flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in shortening. Combine water, vinegar, and egg. Beat with fork. Pour into flour mixture. (Will be sticky) Cover and chill at least 2 hours. Rolls out easily. Makes two 2 crust pies or 5 single crust pies. Can freeze 2 months or refrigerate 2 weeks. If frozen, thaw in refrigerator 2 hours.