Thanksgiving & Apple Pie

Happy Thanksgiving (a day late)!
I hope everyone had a great day, and is still in a food coma- aren't they glorious?
I had a lovely day with my parents, my boyfriend, and my dog. We're hanging out today, after spending most of the day yesterday cooking and watching football.

The next couple posts are going to be family recipes. First is our traditional apple pie. Yesterday my dad taught me how to make it, and I think it turned out rather nicely :)

The pie topping is my grandmother, Mama Ginna's. She passed away when my dad was 24, so I never met her, but I like to think her love of baking has been passed on to me :) My dad and his older sister Ginna Bell, as well as my grandmother Nannie, have done a wonderful job instilling a love of food in me, and I'll always be thankful for that.

Confession: We used Pillsbury's pie crust. We have an awesome Mama Ginna recipe for pie crust, but yesterday I was just trying to master the filling! I'll post the pie crust recipe sometime in the near future :)

The apple pie filling recipe comes from "The All New Fannie Farmer Boston Cooking School Cookbook," a copy my dad has owned for YEARS. I tried to look for its publication date, but the copy has been used so many times (we call it "well-loved") that the cover is gone, as are all the intro pages! 

Traditional Apple Pie

Apple Pie Filling

Ingredients:

Tart apples- 6-8 (we use a mix of Granny Smith and Honey Crisp)

Brown or white sugar- 1/2 c to 3/4 c, depending on the apples

Salt- 1/4 tsp

Cinnamon- 1/2 tsp

Nutmeg- 1/4 tsp

Butter- 1 tbsp

*Note: if the apples are extra juicy, add 1 tbsp flour.

Directions:

1. Peel, core, and SLICE (do NOT dice) the apples. Place in a medium-sized bowl.

2. Mix sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in with the apples. Make sure the slices are well-coated.

3. Line pie dish with pie crust.

4. Pile apples into the dish, making sure the pile gets higher as it gets toward the middle.

5. Dot apples with butter (scatter small chunks on top).

6. Lay the second layer of pie crust on top; pinch the layers' edges together. Make 3-4 small slices in the middle of the pie.

7. COVER top THOROUGHLY with pie topping, bake at 400 degrees for 40-50 minutes {It really depends on the number of apples you have- the more you have, the longer it will most likely need}.

Mama Ginna's Pie Topping

Ingredients:

Flour- 3/4 c (we used more this time, ~1 1/2 c, but it varies. Start with 3/4, you can always add more!)

Sugar- 1/2 c

Butter- 1/2 stick

Directions:

In my Mama Ginna's own words:

"Cut butter into flour & sugar, then I take my hand and mix the pieces of butter into mixture."

You're looking for a very crumbly topping, add flour as needed.

Make sure your nails are clean & short! (Trust me, trying to mix this up with long nails is not a fun time.)

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family and I do :)

Coming up next, Nannie's Famous Coffee Cake!