a taste of fall: apple picking = apple pie

this past weekend nick and i went apple picking up near poughkeepsie with our friends bobby and christy. the weather was absolutely gorgeous even though it was totally freezing. after returning home from dubois farms and thawing out i decided to make an old fashioned apple pie - straight out of the betty crocker cookbook. nothing fancy, just a classicly delicious recipe that immediately brings me back to thanksgiving at grandma's. i brought the pie to work so i didn't eat the entire thing myself (nick's in austin this week) and it was a big hit with my colleagues. i forgot to take photos before letting the vultures dig in but i promise you it was as beautiful as it was delectable. the photo below is from betty crocker.

ingredients:

pastry (or just buy the pre-made crust, shhh)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup plus 2 tbsp shortening
• 4 to 6 tbsp cold water

filling

• 1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon {i add more}
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 8 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples; usually 6 to 8 apples {freshly picked make a huge difference}
• 2 tbsp butter or margarine
  

directions:

1. in medium bowl, mix 2 cups flour and 1 tsp salt. cut in shortening, using pastry blender (or fork or two knives), until particles are the size of small peas. sprinkle with cold water, 1 tbsp at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans side of bowl (1 to 2 tbsp more water can be added if necessary).
2. gather pastry into a ball. divide in half; shape into two flattened rounds on lightly floured surface. wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate about 45 minutes or until dough is firm and cold, yet pliable. this allows the shortening to become slightly firm which helps make the baked pastry more flaky. if refrigerated longer, let pastry soften slightly before rolling.
3. heat oven to 425 degrees F. with floured rolling pin, roll one pastry round into round two inches larger than upside-down 9-inch glass pie plate. fold pastry into fourths, place in pie plate. unfold and ease into plate, pressing firmly against side and bottom.
4. in large bowl, mix sugar, 1/4 cup flour, the cinnamon, nutmeg and 1/8 tsp salt. stir in apples until well mixed. spoon into pastry-lined pie plate. cut butter into small pieces; sprinkle over filling. trim overhanging edge of pastry 1/2 inch from rim of plate.
   
5. roll other round of pastry into 10-inch round. fold into fourths and cut slits so steam can escape. unfold top pastry over filling; trim overhanging edge 1 inch from rim of plate. fold and roll top edge under lower edge, pressing on rim to seal; flute as desired. cover edge with 2- to 3-inch strip of foil to prevent excessive browning.
6. bake 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust, removing foil for last 15 minutes of baking. {you may want to line the oven rack with foil because apple pies have a tendency of spilling over onto the oven bottom - nightmare}
7. serve warm with vanilla ice cream.