I have never made an apple pie before in my life - not even the kind where you buy the pie crust, the filling and throw it in the oven. My pie-making experience thus far has consisted of no-bake cheesecake, which takes more effort to shop for than it does to actually make.

Moreover, I have never had the desire to make a pie, until Justin asked me to bake one for our two-person Labor Day “picnic”, and since it was a request and it involved dessert, I had to try.

I actually spent three days scouring the internet looking for the perfect recipe before I gave up, took my basic knowledge of ingredients and just decided to make my own filling. The crust was something I found on a blog, and all the commenters commented on how wonderfully easy this crust was to make and how perfect their pies all turned out.

Well, I can say that the crust turned out “ok” and since my filling turned out to be probably the best apple pie filling EVER, I can assure you all that the thing tastes delightfully awesome - but you might want to try out a different crust recipe (or I just need more practice!)

The Pie..

The Crust:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• I teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter ( I like to use the sticks, sliced up)
• 6 tablespoons shortening
• 6 to 8 tablespoons ice water

Mix your flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl.

This next step is easier if you have a dough blender, but if not - I like to use my hands (though I prefer the blender) . Cut in your butter, shortening and ice water.

Wrap up the dough in plastic wrap or a ziploc baggie and stick in the fridge for about 20 minutes (while you prepare the filling)

The Filling:

• Five - Six Apples. (Most recipes call for tart, green apples, but I wanted to try something different - and it worked great, IMO.) I used one granny smith, one jonagold, one braeburn, two gala (Justin’s favorite, so I had to use two!), one jazz apple (which is a braeburn/gala hybrid) and a pacific rose. Yes that’s 7 - the Jazz and galas were much smaller than the rest. Keep in mind I did have a bit leftover which I will go into later.
• 1 to 1.5 cups sugar. If you like it sweeter, go towards the 1.5 cups.
• 2 Tablespoons Flour
• 1.5 teaspoons cinnamon ( I will admit I put closer to 2, I love cinnamon)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice (fresh is great, bottled works just fine)

Fill a large bowl with cool water and about a tablespoon of lemon juice. As you peel and slice your apples, soak them in here to keep from browning.

In another large bowl, mix the following:

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vinegar

When finished, you should have a crumbly, moist powdery-mixture:

Now, drain your apples - and be sure to drain them very thoroughly. Mix your apple slices into the spice mix.

Cut your dough in half - two equal chunks. Set one aside.

Roll one of your balls out until it is approximately 1/8 thick. Once the dough is rolled out, wrap it  gently around the rolling pin and unroll it onto your pie pan.

Press gently and shape your dough to the pie pan, then take a fork and poke holes in the bottom of the crust. Put your apple mix in - it should reach about the top of the pan - set aside the rest. You do not want to overfill the pie (unless you want to! I’ve had overflowing pies with no top-crust - DELICIOUS) I used my extras by heating them in a saucepan and dumping it over vanilla ice cream.

Roll out the second ball of dough and place it over your apple mix. Press the edge of the top dough to the bottom dough and against the pie pan. You can use a fork or knife to make a pretty design, or you can be lazy like me and leave it pinched.

You can poke some decorative holes in the top - I didn’t, but if you overfilled your pie, you might want to so it overflows prettily

Now, I used some of my extra apples and made a pinwheel on top, they were goood - but you can pretty much decorate however you want, or not at all.

Cut long strips of tinfoil and place them around the edge of the pie. This will prevent the crust’s edge from burning while it bakes. You will want to take the tinfoil off about ten minutes before the pie is done. This way, the apple pie will have a golden brown edge. I did not do this with my pie, because.. I couldn’t find my tin foil. Whoops.

Bake your pie at 400 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

Let the pie cool well before serving - even if you reheat it to serve, it will firm up your filling.

Now, the pie was delicious, and so was my crust, however I LOVE flaky crust and this wasn’t flaky enough for me. I have since found a different crust recipe and will try it out next time and report back.

Enjoy your pie!