Apple Pie...from scratch!

This past Tuesday was my grandmother's birthday, so we decided to have her and some family over to celebrate.  Her favorite dessert is apple pie, so my mom thought it would be nice to make one for her. Being the adventurous person that I am, I decided that I wanted to make it. All by myself. From scratch. So I hopped online, and found a recipe for the crust and for the filling.  

I started with the crust, following all the directions from the recipe, but when I saw that the crust needed ice water, I was a bit confused.  I thought to myself, "does this mean I have to put ice cubes in the dough?!" I decided not to, and it turned out to be okay.  The recipe told me to put 7 tablespoons of this "ice water" in the dough. But even after measuring these and adding them to the dough, it was still very crumbly.  So I became frustrated and poured about half of the water pitcher in the dough...oops.

However, the filling was a LOT easier.  Even though I practically injured myself peeling the apples. After cooling the dough in the refrigerator, it seemed to harden, so I was relieved.  Then I layered the pie pan with the crust, filling, and top, and put it in the oven.  And 30 minutes later, it was done! 

And THANK THE LORD, it turned out great!! And everyone thought so too (or maybe they were just being nice)...but I was proud of myself.

All in all, my first pie baking was a success. So this should be a message to everyone that pie-making is not rocket science, in fact, anyone could do it! 

PS. we did not have shortening at the house, so I had to find a crust recipe that did not require it. 

This was where I got the recipe for the crust: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/paulas-perfect-pie-crust-recipe/index.html

And the filling: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/paulas-apple-pie-filling-recipe/index.html

Enjoy!

xx

HGK