A story about apples.

My dad has a big apple tree growing in his back yard. No-body knows what kind of apples they are, but we do know that they are good for cooking.
You know what else is good for cooking? Pie is good for cooking.


When dad gave me this huge bag of apples, the first thing I thought of was pie. But the weird thing was, I didn't really know how to make the pie. I think that making pie is one of those things that people should just know how to make. But I didn't. I had to look up a recipe. I mean, I know how to make pastry, I just didn't know what to put inside the pastry. Other than apples, obviously.

But I found a recipe in the end. And I used a whole block of butter. And then my sister dropped over unannounced and she helped me peel all the apples. And then we juggled the apples, because we remembered that once upon a time, we knew how to do it. And then we ate lots of the peeled apples with some sharp cheddar cheese, because that is a really good combination. And we drank some tea and we had a really nice time.


Apple Pie
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

One serving of pastry from this recipe (also from Smitten Kitchen)
7 medium cooking apples
1 tablespoon orange juice
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 egg, beaten lightly (for glazing the pie lid)

Preheat the oven to 250C and make sure the oven rack is on the bottom shelf. This is important for a crispy pie base.
Peel, core and chop the apples (it's helpful if you have a sister or other nice sibling to help you do this).
Put them in a bowl and toss them with the juice and the dry ingredients. Set these aside.
Line the pie tin with half of the chilled, rolled out pastry, making sure there is enough overlapping the dish. Chill for 5 mins in the fridge.
Arrange the apples on the pastry case, piling them up in the middle.
Lay the other half of the rolled out pastry on top of the apples, making sure there is enough pastry overlapping the dish.
Fold the bottom layer of pastry over the top of the pie, like a blanket. This way, the pastry won't shrink and the apple juices won't escape.
Crimp and arrange the pastry so it sticks onto itself and looks nice. You could use the edge of a fork to make the crimps.
Cut four slits in the top of the pie.
Brush the pie with the egg.
Sprinkle the top of the pie with some granulated sugar.
Put the pie in the oven and immediately turn the oven down to 220C. Bake for 25 mins until crust is golden.
Turn the oven down again to 190C, rotate the pie and continue to bake for another 30-35 mins.
Let the pie cool before cutting and serving to your nice family.