Monday, September 19, 2011

Hey, y'all! Welcome!

So Missy and I got to thinking that since that whole Civil War thing went over SO WELL, (she calls it the War of Northern Aggression, isn't that just so cute????)....

 We'd open a coffee and pastry shop together. You know, so our friends could stock up on cyber food, recipes, coffee-talk, cookies, java, joe....Whatever. Now if that look is a bit prissy for you, how 'bout this?


And that Tippens woman makes a MEAN latte' for a preacher's wife. She does not SKIMP on the cream, that's all I'm sayin'.


So welcome aboard!  Feel free to stop by during our birthday bash month of October and see what lil' ol' things Missy and I might be cooking up!  Today I'm going to have a little apple pie fun for the lot o'youse!

We begin with this: 
A 4-quart bowl filled with sliced, peeled apples (I like Crispin and Cortlands best for baking)
4 tsp.Cinnamon
2 tsp. Nutmeg
2 1/4 cups Sugar
3/4 cup Flour

 Mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg together in that pretty glass bowl.

Now mix the dry ingredients with the apples.
Once mixed, several slices of apple-y-goodness should be TASTED...
For quality control purposes, of course.  ;)

I love these pie pans. 
They look expensive. Like I bought them at an East-side mall...
Or some shop with the word Pottery in its title...
Nope.
Wal-Mart.
$8 each.
SUHWEEET!!!!
Nice and deep, holds lots of apple-y-goodness! I love a deep pie, don't you?

So now you layer the apple-y-spicy-goodness into the pie shells.
If you're using a regular top crust, you would dot each pie with 2 Tbsp. of butter.
Then apply the top crust, add a few cute vents and bake at 425 until golden.

BUT:

We're doing Dutch Apple Pie in honor of the birth of my new grandson
Xavier Joseph
born yesterday, September 30, 2011.

(That was a gratuitous announcement, you get that, right??? 'Cause the kid DOES NOT eat any kind of pie as yet, Dutch or non-Dutch)

Now I love this picture.
Note the pastry blenders.
See the shiny silver one on the left? It's pretty, right?
And the old, worn, somewhat rusty one on the right?
Yeah, you guessed it. The one on the right is my FAVORITE.
It's got the perfect flexibility for blending butter, sugar and flour, which
(coincidentally)
Are what you need for the topping!
Clever, right????
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
(The world will not end if you adjust any of these numbers. I'm just sayin'...)
Cut butter into flour, sugar, cinnamon mix with cool old pastry blender or two knives.
Both work well.
Mixture should look like 'meal' when mixed. Kind of lumpy. Almost scary.

Sprinkle this on top of apple filling
Really.
Do it.
It's okay.


There. Isn't that pretty?  Now I crimp foil strips around the pie edges because Lacey hates dark crust.
And I love Lacey, my daughter-in-law who just owns my heart.
 
So I want light edges for Lacey.

Bake at 425 for about 35-45 minutes, depending on thickness.
If topping browns too quickly, lay a square of tin foil (aluminum foil for you fancy folks) over it the last fifteen minutes or so.

I can't think of a better way to start off a new October enterprise than good, old-fashioned
Yankee Apple Pie!

Enjoy, y'all!!

13 comments:

  1. 1st - CONGRATULATIONS on the birth of Xavier Joseph. What a fun way to end September.

    and THANK YOU for the apple pie recipe. Anything that includes apples and cinnamon (okay and butter and sugar) top my list of things I absolutely love about fall.

    Love the new shop. Can I commandeer a table in the corner to sit and write while I sip coffee and nibble on apple pie?

    Mary

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  2. Mary, thank you so much for being our first commenter! I think that deserves a prize, honey!!! :) You get your pick of a Ruthy book and a copy of Missy's A Family for Faith!

    YAY YOU!!!! :)

    I love apple pie. Just love it. And Hilton (where I live) is apple country, set along the shores of Lake Ontario, perfect apple growing weather!

    I only wish I could REALLY GIVE YOU A PIECE!!! :)

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  3. I'm sorry for people who've had trouble commenting!! I just set it so anyone can comment. So please try again!

    I'm at the Moonlight & Magnolias conference so will have to check in again later. About to go hear Eloisa James speak!

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  4. Apple Pie is my kryptonite and this recipe looks SOOO yummy! I'll have to try it sometime. The name of your cafe is great btw. Love it. :)

    (Blogger has been doing crazy things today. The word verification box isn't visible. I finally gave up on commenting, then pressed the "Tab" key on a whim. It helped.)

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  5. Ruthy, dear, thank you for this yummy recipe!! I may have to do some baking this week. Will let y'all know how it turns out. Of course, I live in peach country so I may have to alter it a bit. :)

    By the way, Eloisa was a wonderful speaker! I'm inspired.

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  6. Mary and Natalie, thanks for dropping by to sit a spell. And for sticking with us even through a Blogger problem (or could be a Missy vs technology problem). :)

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  7. Oh, I never thought of that, Missy! That you might not have re-set the controls at the cafe door!!!

    Now we know.

    :)

    Guys, thank you for coming by! And I'm going to post the crust recipe for youse as well... Because a pie isn't good pie without great crust and this crust is EASY... FOOLPROOF.... And if you mess it up, you just re-roll it and go again!

    Nothing short of wonderful!

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  8. Ruthy, I had remembered to open the door to the blog before I left town. But I had the settings for comments on registered users only. I set it so everyone can now comment. :)

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  9. Pam Hillman had trouble commenting so sent the attempted comment by email:

    Oh, that looks so YUMMY! Ruth, when you get through rocking Xavier, see if you can post a pic of the FINAL PRODUCT!!!

    Or did you EAT it all already?????

    PS...LOVE the cafe!

    Pam

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  10. See, this is why I teach my students to read and re-read. When I first read your comment, Ruthy, I thought you said I had to choose between your book and Missy's.

    We might have reignited that war of Northern Agression, both of us being from NY State and all. :0

    Thanks so much for the prizes. WOW! I thought the baked goods sans calories were a prize. Now I get to read too!

    Since I didn't make it to St. Louis, may I choose a copy of your Carol book? If you have one, otherwise anything is good. I'll treasure the copy even if I've already read it.

    Waves to Missy. Sounds like M&M is a blast as usual. I always think it would be fun to go to that conference. Last time I was in Georgia it was for work and that was over cough 25 years cough ago.

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  11. It's good to see the north and south getting along. Love those sweets. Yum and low in calories too.

    Tina P

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  12. Mary, of course! I'll send it along once I have your snail mail addy... And time. ;)

    And Tina P, this pie is so totally worth the calories, that two slices is better than one. Might as well get hung for a sheep as a lamb, right????

    :)

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  13. Ruthy, you can just forward me Mary's addy. :)

    Hey, Tina P!

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