Apple Pie, Anyone?

I mentioned on here before how I've really taken to cooking and baking since we've been in Louisville. For a couple of months now, I've had an apple pie on my list of things to bake. I've NEVER made a pie before, unless you count the ones I helped my grandmothers make when I was a little girl. We even received this really nice Pampered Chef pie plate as a wedding gift of which I sold in a garage sale right before we moved here because I don't think I ever took it out of the box!

So one day, I make my thoughts known to Evan about making a pie from scratch, crust and all, and say, "Since you like apple pie so much, I think I'll try that." Evan is very encouraging and says, "I think that's great, but maybe for your first one you should start out with some sort of pudding-based filling instead of apple." Thanks a lot for the confidence, honey. :)

I spent some time looking through cookbooks for recipes and even online, but I still wasn't sure what would be the best way to make the crust since I'd never done it before. So, I email my Mimi to ask her about making a crust. Her reply was, "I understand your desire to do something you've never done before, but Pillsbury makes a great refrigerated one that tastes just like homemade. Why waste the time?" Let me just add, that my Mimi and my Mammaw are the ones I've ALWAYS called for cooking advice, because they are the ones I measure good food against.) Needless to say, after Evan's comment AND Mimi's advice, I was more than determined to do this myself. :) (Mimi, I know you are reading this. I love you very much and still think you are one of the best cooks on the planet.) :)

I did some more asking around about crusts/pies, looking at recipes and finally my sweet friend Carolyn Muse laughed at my story, gave me some pointers, then brought two recipe books for me to check out.

Today, while Kendall was napping...I did it. I made an apple pie completely from scratch.

Mixing up the crust

crust rolled out and in pie pan (it's not very pretty, so don't click up close!)
8 cups of apples, peeled and sliced

Instead of a double crust, I went with a French crumble variation. Brown sugar, butter, and flour mixture on top. It got ALL over the cookie sheet, and I didn' t really think anything about it, until after about 10 minutes I smelled something burning. At that point, I took the pie out of the oven and transferred it to a clean cookie sheet. Much better. :)

Fresh out of the oven!

Finished product!

We put Kendall to bed and enjoyed an "at home" date of dessert and coffee! Evan said that the pie tasted great, especially for my very first one ever, and that I could make it anytime!

As far as the crust goes, I'm not going to say that I'll never buy Pillsbury, but I really didn't think making the crust was that much trouble, especially since I had all the ingredients in my cabinet. I thought peeling and cutting all those apples was the most time consuming.

Now, who wants to come over and finish it for me?!?!?!