food

I finally got out of bed (due to hunger) so me and michael cooked like crazy. we made some more bruschetta as a snack and to use up the cherry tomatoes, and Michael made some mushroom soup. (He is still experimenting with that recipe but I will post it when we have it down.) Then I made a pie. Here is the recipe for that one. I will call it apple pie with anchorage pie crust because I got the crust recipe from the mother of a former work study student in my office at Duke. I can't remember her name ...wait no...I think her name was Kelly, but all I remember is her mom made good pies. Kelly didn't know you could buy a slice of pie or a whole pie at the store until college. She thought they were something you had to make...so here is the recipe because I know you are tired of my unpunctuated ranting

2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt (I used sea salt this time)
2/3 a cup shortening (visually separated into 3 parts fill 2 with shortening and 1 with unsalted butter)
5-7 T. very very cold water (add 5 then see if you need more)

mix ingredients with a pastry cutter (I don't have one of these so I use two knives or a fork but I lust after pastry cutters and other kitchen gadgets that I will one day register for if I ever set a date for the wedding) form into a ball. try not to touch it or play with it more than you have to or it will get tough. break into two equal size pieces and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate.

core & peel 4-6 granny smith apples and slice thin. make sure to slice out that hard part in the middle it is not nice to get in your mouth later. mix slices in a bowl with 2/3-3/4 c. sugar, tsp. cinnamon, dash of nutmeg and 2T flour. you can also make a prettier pie by layering the apple slices with the sugar mixture...but I was too lazy for that tonight.

roll out the dough (this is tricky but like I told michael when he tried this for the first time tonight. the ingredients are good and the pie will taste good even if it is not martha stewart perfect) keep the counter and the rolling pin (or for pathetic people like me in college old wine bottle or pint glass) lightly covered in flour. this is like play-doh...it will stick to itself so be careful. if it gets bad you can always scrape it up with a spatula and stick it together in places with some warm water.

lay one section in the pie pan, pour in the apple mixture. lay the other section on top. be as martha as you like here on the edges, the easiest thing to do is press it together with a fork. make some vents in the top for steam to escape. again if you want to get fancy you can brush the top with egg wash (1 egg yolk, 1T water mixed) this will make the top shiny. or you can put some granulated sugar on top. or both.

let me know how it goes or if you have any questions.
suggestions-use more cinnamon if you like...I am not a cinnamonny kind of girl
use other types of apples...I like the granny smiths for everything because they are sour. most people suggest them for pies but you may want to use something else.
mine just came out of the oven...I will let you know how it tastes as soon as it cools.