Nothing says fall like...

APPLE PIE, ya'll!

Let me set this up for ya... this has become a sort of tradition around the T family.  Scott's mom and her mom would get together and make several pies at a time and freeze them and bake them as necessary throughout the year (or two) :)  So... when I married into the family... Scott's mom and I decided to keep the tradition alive!  It is an afternoon full of pie making and typically no pie eating.  BUT this year we had some yummy hot apple cider while we were elbows deep in apples and flour.

so lets get on with it... you will need:

For the crust:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil

For the filling:
4 cups of sliced red apples (typically 4 good sized red apples)
1 3/4 cups sugar
2-3 tsp cinnamon (or to taste)
2 tbsp flour
shake of salt
butter

Pretty simple ingredients... sadly I didn't get a picture of all of them together... #sorryaboutit

But I did get a great pic of my mother-in-law making a batch of crust!

1. First make the crust-- this is literally a dumping of the 2 1/2 cups of flour, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 3/4 cup of oil, and 1/3 cup of milk into the mixer and mix until the crust pulls away from the sides and sticks together.  It literally takes like 30 seconds... it is glorious!  Time to divide the crust into 2 and roll each 1/2 out.  So my mother-in-law discovered these little round pic crust rolling out guides (see picture below) that are a must have for rolling out pie crust into perfect circles!  Just put some flour on both sides before rolling it out and it won't stick at all!  So beautiful!  So in the bottom of your pie plate, be sure to put some flour and then add the 1st 1/2 of your pie crust.  

*Disclaimer:  this is a great and easy crust.. but I would not suggest it is the best pie crust I've ever had- my mom makes her grandmother's crust and THAT is the best pie crust I've EVER had... but it is also a family secret... or potentially... it takes too long to make* :)

2. Now, typically we add the 1 3/4 cups of sugar, 2-3 tsp of cinnamon, 2 tbsp of flour, and shake of salt to the big tupperware bowl first (we were a bit rusty and forgot to add the mixture until after the apples were sliced and ready to go).

3. Time to peel and slice your apples.  Now, for many years my mother-in-law did that all by hand.. even the first time I attending the event we did it all by hand.  Now we can whip out twice the amount of pies b/c of this amazing invention... thank you pampered chef for the apple-peeler-slicer-corer!  If you don't have one of these beauties... don't worry-- it doesn't take THHHHHHAT long if you're just making 1 pie. :)

4.  So we've sliced the apples, now it is time to mix the slices with the filling mixture.. ensuring each and every slice of heaven is coated with goodness.  Then pour the 4 cups of sliced apples into your crust.  Now take a stick of butter and add little cubes of butter randomly throughout the top of the pie filling.

5.  Now cover the pie with the crust topper (not sure of the technical term... so work with me here...)  And pinch the edges.  If there are any pieces hanging over the edge- just take a knife and cut off any excess crust.  Make a few slits in the top of the crust (be sure to only cut the top layer.. don't hit the bottom of the pan)

From this point we would cover with wax paper and a bunch of foil and put it in a 2 gallon freezer bag and write the following instructions:

-Coat/rub top with milk, sugar and cinnamon

-Bake @ 350 for 1 hr (straight from the freezer- no thawing necessary)

We usually write the date we made it as well and then store it away in the freezer until we're ready to enjoy it!  

Yuuuuuummmmmmm... I love a piece of warm apple pie with a couple scoops of vanilla ice cream... oh man oh man!  All of that making and no eating is getting to me... #musthaveapplepiesoon

so go try it and let me know what you think?!