Apple Pie and Christmas Movies

I’m not sure which thought came first.

“I feel like apple pie…”

“I KNOW, Let’s watch a Christmas MOVIE!!!”

Haha they both seemed to come at once and they both just HAD to be done.

I COME from a land of White Christmas Wonderland, Hot Cocoa, Snowmen and Cherished Family Traditions.  I LIVE in a land of Summertime Christmas, Margaritas, BBQ’s and Secret Santas.  This has left me confused.

Every year, when winter comes in June and it gets colder and I NEED more comfort food, my heart screams, “It’s Christmas!!” I try to push those thoughts away. Really I do, but sometimes you just have to give in.

So yesterday, I woke up and added spice to my coffee grounds. Cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. Have you done this? I highly recommend it!! The smell and the taste is just divine and makes your regular filter coffee seem so boring.

Our son flew through his schoolwork as he could see that Mom was in the Christmas mood.  He knows me well and could tell that’s a sign for a great day, haha.

Second cup of coffee poured, then on to Netflix I jumped to see what Christmas treasures were available. Aha!  “The 12 Dates of Christmas,” that will do nicely!!

My enthusiasm must have rubbed off on Miss 2, as she then came toddling into the family room with her playdough in hand. “Mama, Christmas cookies?” So we watched the movie and made playdough “Christmas Cookies.”

Wow, could the day get any better?

Well, Yes, Yes it could!!  Thank you for asking. We could make APPLE PIE!!

After running a few errands, coming home and pouring yet another cup of delicious spiced coffee, we found another Christmas movie on Netflix, “Pete’s Christmas,” to play in the background, and we set to making the most delicious apple pie we have ever created.  Note, I hardly ever make apple pie so it was quite the treat!

Now, I don’t know about you but I have go to recipes. Base recipes that I love to play around with but I know will always work.  Pie Crust, Cake Base, and Christmas Cookies for me are found in my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.  My grandma sent this to me several years ago and it has proved to be very valuable in my kitchen. So for this recipe, the pie crust is from the above cookbook and the filling and cooking method are all mine.

Pie Crust:

2 1/4 Cups All Purpose Flour

3/4 Teaspoon Salt

2/3 Cup Shortening (I used Butter)

8 – 10 Tablespoons Cold Water

Milk, Sugar (to glaze the top of the pie)

Filling:

8 Large Apples

1 Cup Brown Sugar

3 Tablespoons Corn Starch

1 Tablespoon Ground Cinnamon

1 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

Dash of Ground Clove

Method:

Prepare the Pie Crust First.

Cut the butter into the flour and salt.  I added a dash of cinnamon into my flour as I like the flavour it adds.

It should look like this:

Small pea size bits of butter, or a course clumpy sand. Haha

Add cold water by the Tablespoon, mixing quickly with a fork until it begins to come together into a ball of dough.

Work into a ball, divide in half putting one half away for the top of your pie and roll out to desired thickness and to fit your pie plate.

Line your pie plate with the dough. Loosely place foil and baking beans (or rice) over your crust and blind bake for 10 – 15 minutes. This helps the filling from making the bottom pie crust all soggy.

 

While the crust is cooking, start preparing your filling.

Peel, core and slice the apples. Eat some along the way.

On to the stove top it goes.

Add brown sugar, corn starch, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove. Stir well, while cooking over medium heat.

In just a few minutes it will look like this:

Once a golden, thick, caramelly sauce has developed and the apples have just begun to tenderize remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.  Don’t pour screaming hot apple filling into your pie shell!

Your first pie shell should be cooling on the bench by now too.

While everything is settling, roll out the remaining half of your pie crust and decide how to decorate.  I decided to make a pretty lattice top on mine.

To finish, pour the cooled filling into the pie crust.

Finish off the top of your pie. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Give your pie a little foil hat to keep it from burning and bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

Remove the foil hat and bake a further 20- 30 minutes until golden and bubbly.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream!

My day is complete…

 

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