Pamela Garin : June 2008

Friday, June 13, 2008

Raggs To Roses

This is my backyard. God has truly blessed us to be able to live in such an amazing place. Pictured are 2 of our horses. I am a 53 year old mother of 5, grandmother of 10. My husband and I raise cattle, horses, and now I have a few sheep.(I will soon learn to spin)..........

I love Sewing, quilting, gardening,cooking, horseback riding,knitting, and I love the Lord.
Blogging is new to me, but you can see that I am quite isolated so I am eager to make new friends.

APPLE PIE TIME !

The first thing I do is build a fire as shown in top picture.

I only own a wood cookstove. I do not have a modern one. I have been living like this for 71/2 years now and like it very much.

The other day I went to a big quilt show in Creede Colorado, and on the way back bought 50 lbs of Jonathan apples. I will can most of them but today I baked a PIE !!!

Anyone who uses the expression "easy as pie" has never made one.

40 years ago I threw out LOTS of dough before I finally learned to make pie !

Through the years I have come up with an amazing brown sugar apple pie that I would like to share.

First; the crust

2 1/2 C flour
3/4 C chilled shortening
1 stick chilled butter (no substitutes)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt

this makes a real flaky crust if you do it right. I have come up with my own method (very easy)
first; you just mound up all the ingredients onto a surface that you can cut on..........and take a bench scraper or large chef's knife and cut and mix without using your hands. (you do not want the butter to melt or the shortening to get too soft.

Then add enough cold water ( 1 tablespoon at a time if you have a humid climate) More if you live in a dry climate like I do, and using the bench scraper, form a soft ball of dough......only using your hands at the last minute ! You do not want the butter to melt toomuch ! You want big bits of butter, this will make a flaky crust.

Now roll it out and place it in your piepan.

FILLING;
7 or 8 med size apples (use cooking apples like granny smith,
jonathan, macintosh yellow delicious) the worst apple
to cook is the red delicious, don't use that one for sure
Peel and core and slice
3/4 C brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Dot with butter (about 2 tablespoons)

Roll and cut out a crust for the top,cut plenty of ventilation holes, and BAKE 375 for about an hour till the crust is brown and filling is bubbling .........I live at an elevation of 8,000 feet so I bake mine for about 2 hours. If the edges of the crust are browning too quickly, cover them with a pie crust shield or aluminum foil