Good Day!
Today was a cool day here in Signal Mountain, TN.  Makes me feel like Fall is here more and more.  As well as the fact that my kitchen has been beckoning me to it for the last week.

I love this time of year because of the warmth of my oven and the smells going through my small house.  My husband of 8 years loves it too.  To be honest, when he was in the mood for something from the oven, he would turn on the Food Network Channel knowing it'd make me want to make something.

I LOVE to bake and could do it all day everyday.  In fact once my son is grown, I want to open my own cookie store/cafe.  Now that the days are getting shorter and cooler, I feel drawn to make tons of goodies for all my friends and family.  I promise that I won't go overboard because we're all trying to watch our waistlines.  But luckily for you, I can put the recipes on here for my favorite goodies so that you can make it and I feel like I did.

One of the things I love to make is Pie.  Absolutely love how I can take some flour and shortening and mold it into the best pie crust and then fill it to my heart's content.  I had such a hard time finding a recipe for an apple pie like you find in restaurants.  Finally I found one that allows the apples to cook properly and not be over or under cooked.  I found a recipe that seemed like it would be a good one because of the age of it, but not quite.  It called for hot water in the pie.  First it seemed too much ( 1 cup ) and second shouldn't the apples make it more moist by baking it?  But I tried it anyways and the crust was soggy and the apples weren't cooked.  I even tried to just use the canned apple pie filling, but was left wanting a homemade apple pie even more.  It was too soft.  Finally, I found the perfect recipe by adding what I liked about one pie recipe and removing what I didn't like.  And today I'm going to share this recipe with you.  You lucky dogs!

First off, don't be put off by the vinegar in the pie crust.  Trust me on this.  Put it in there.  It will make your crust flaky but not so flaky you can't take it out of the plate.  Second, I have to dice my apples.  I did this to make sure that the pieces were small enough that the heat would distribute evenly and cook them thoroughly.
But if you like them sliced, by all means go ahead and slice them thinly.  One more thing and I promise the recipe is next.  Make sure you let that pie cool COMPLETELY before slicing into it.

Perfect Crust

Makes 2 double crust pies

3 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 1/4 cups shortening
1 tsp vinegar
1 egg slightly beaten room temperature
6-8 tbsp water
1 tsp salt

Cut shortening in flour until resembles cornmeal.  You can do this with your hands or I use a pastry blender.
In separate bowl mix egg , water, vinegar and salt.  Make a well in the flour and add the wet ingredients.
Mix together just till it combines in chunks of dough.  Divide into 4 portions.  Wrap and chill for two hours.
Use a small amount of flour to dust your counter and roll out till 1/4 inch thick.  Fold in half then again to make a large wedge.  Place wedge in 1/4 of the pie plate and then unfold.  Make sure to press it gently when fitting it into pie plate.

Apple Pie

6 medium Fuji or Gala apples
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 stick butter
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp flour

Preheat oven to 450.
Peel apples and either slice them thin or dice.  Place in a bowl and add the sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, cornstarch and flour.  Toss well to combine.  Place in a crust and then top with butter.  Place another crust on top, flute and then cut vents.   Bake at 450 for 10 mins.  Reduce to 350 for another 35 minutes. Cool completely.

This is the Apple Pie I made for my best friend who was feeling ill and needed a pick me up.   I got this fabulous crust cutter at a local apple farm.  I used the pieces that were cut out to decorate the top.  To make it stick I brushed the crust with egg white.  Since it was wet I added some sugar to the top too.

I hope you enjoy and have a wonderful day!