Mmmmm Apple Pie Day

Littlest grandchild Claire is still here for another day or two. She came up with the idea that we needed to bake apple pies! That of course meant we had to take a special trip to the store just to get some Granny Smith apples. Did you know that they make the best pies? Just ask Claire, she will tell you.

Her first task is to peel off all of the little stickers that are on the apples. That is a very important job and she takes it very seriously.

Once the stickers are off, we wash all of the apples. Now it's time to set up the handy-dandy little apple peeler corer slicer device. It's such a cool little tool. They make some that clamp onto a table or the edge of a counter, but I like the one with the big suction cup base. It seems to hold better and you can clamp it anywhere that you have a smooth countertop.

All of the grandkids are really good at cranking out apples on this tool. Of course, the reward is that they get to eat the peelings that come off in long long long strings. Claire especially likes the ends of the apple where the peeler starts and stops. That's her extra special little piece to ask for.

She has even gotten so good at cranking the apples that she can stuff peelings in her mouth with one hand and crank with the other hand. My oh my, what a talent.

Once the apples are all ready...they are peeled, and the machine slices them too, we chop them up into sections and toss them in a bowl with:

•  white sugar,
•  brown sugar, 
• a little flour and cornstarch to thicken, 
• some cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice, 
• and a couple tablespoons of vanilla..

While that mixture soaks into the apples, we take care of getting the crusts ready. We had two store-bought crust in pans in the freezer, but we rolled out our own pie crust dough for the tops of each of those pans.

We rolled the top crust over the pies, crimped them down, and cut little vent slits in them. It's Claire's job to stick her finger into each of the slits and open it up a little wider.

Claire was making a special little apple pie all for herself. Steve saved a mini pie tin from a pot pie, so she could use up the scraps of dough and make her own little apple pie!

Claire sprinkled a cinnamon and sugar mixture over the top of the crusts on each pie, It bakes right on and is really tasty. At the end of this task, she gets to finally lick her fingers. 

Patience is a virtue, or so they say. She had to be very patient to wait while the pies were in the oven. Apple pies take a long time, about 45 minutes.  Every five minutes she would dash back to check and ask if they were done yet. 

Tahhh Dahhhhhh!!

Just look at that!

The house is filled with the beautiful aroma of apple pies. What a wonderful Autumn treat. Tonight is a Packer game night at 7:15. They're playing out in San Francisco, so we will be content to curl up in our chairs and watch the game. This little blond Packer fan will be bouncing up and down until about 8:30 and then it will be time to pop her into bed. I don't think she'll make it all the way to half-time. Then we can relax and watch the rest of the game ourselves. 

ON EDIT: 8:10 and she is still going strong and enjoying her pie! 

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We are thinking about taking off later this week and doing some camping now that we've got the new bedroom window installed and the siding finished. Stay tuned, because we might make a loop around Corps of Engineer Parks along the west side of the state of Wisconsin. 

Steve has a dentist appointment on Wednesday, but then we have nothing else on our calendar for a couple weeks. We can clear it off and head out and enjoy some Autumn camping before the snow flies.

It's an Apple Pie Kinda Day

Tuesday morning I heard a wee little hand go knock knock knock at our door.  Seems our little granddaughter Chelsea needed to play hooky from the daycare center and decided that her Granmuddah's house was the place to spend the day!   (she ran a fever on Monday, so they have a 24 hour waiting rule on returning to daycare)

Feeling fine as frog's hair, she came in with a smile on her face and a bounce in her step!   We had our bananas and cereal, and then went to work.  Yes, the wee one was going to be baking an apple pie---

First she had to peel, core and slice all the green Granny Smith apples.  We clipped a towel around her as a little apron and set her to work. This is an easy task when you are 21 months old because of the fun toy Granmuddah has in her kitchen.  Look!

I have owned both types of apple peeler/corer/slicer devices; the ones that clamp on the counter and the ones with the suction cup base.  This one is by NorPro.   I prefer the suction cup base as you can use them anywhere you have a smooth surface and aim it in any direction.  The clamp-on types can only be used perpendicular to the counter and that is harder to crank for a wee one.   Any time I see either type of them at rummage sales, I nab them up.  Pampered Chef makes one with two different shafts for different thicknesses of the slices.  They also work good for potatoes too!

She helped measure the flour, sugar, vanilla and lots of cinnamon into the apple slices and stir-stir-stir till they were well coated.  Then we put them all into a pie crust, added another crust to the top.. and she sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on the top crust.  We poked the letter "C" to the top for Chelsea, for the air holes.  (we cheated with store bought crusts)

Now for the baking.. she knows the word "HOT" very well and didn't touch the oven, but she was sure curious about her pie being in there for so long.  Pies take 50 minutes!!!!

While we were waiting for the pie to bake, she came to help me at the table loom with some kitchen towels I am weaving.  She wound my bobbins and helped with the long stick shuttles.  Such concentration!

 Ahhhh after such a long long wait... it was DONE!!!

Apple pie is her Granfaddah's most favorite pie of all. 

Won't he be surprised when he comes home from work???

All this baking and weaving can sure tire out a little girl:

 Sleep tight, Little Lamb, and dream of apples and shuttles.....

Ahhhh Apple Pies!

My wonderful neighbors, Charlotte and John, gave me a bucket of apples off their tree.   Steveio’s favorite dessert is apple pie, and I decided he needed a treat.  He has been soooo good to me lately, taking care of me, and all the things around the house.

So out came the apple corer device .. this is the GREATEST tool!  It peels, cores and slices the apple so perfectly!    This one is made by Back To Basics, and can be found at Ace Hardware stores.   There are some that clamp onto counters, but I like the big suction cup one better, my counter has a rolled curve to the edge that the clamp-type don’t work on.
So with this one, you just dampen the counter, then set down the base and move the lever from right to left.  The huge rubber bottom now flexes  to create a suction that holds the tool firmly in place.
 
It wastes very little of the apple.  the peeling is thin, the core is gone, and the slices are all uniformly cut so they all bake at the same rate.  Works great for potatoes too! Especially for potato salads, never a mixture of mushy and firm chunks, they all are evenly done when boiled as uniformly cut chunks.
  This is the finished apple as it comes off the machine, like one long spiral.


I cut the spirals into quarters- and toss them in a bowl with flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and a dollop of real vanilla,  Then I pile them into a pie crust that has been prebaked for about 5 minutes.  
(no mushy pie bottom and slices come outta the pan better)

Usually I make my own pie crusts from scratch, but tonight I was a bit rushed, a bit lazy, and a bit tired,... so frozen pie crusts made due.
 
On top I make a crumb mixture of butter, flour, brown sugar and spices… and just spoon it on top.  Bake about 40 minutes or until done at 425 degrees.



Ahhh fresh outta the oven last night, before Steveio came home from his union meeting. 


it was so strange though…. this morning I woke up to discover that----

WE’VE BEEN ROBBBED!!!

Somehow, a whole PIE is MISSING!

Could it have something to do with the rustling tin foil I heard at 5a.m. as Steveio was preparing to go to work?  
I think he took along a whole pie to share with the guys…awwwww