Simple Apple Pie

While the in-laws were here, I made all kinds of things. Grilled chicken, roasted potato wedges, red ranch dressing, smore's cookies, strawberry sour cream ice cream, chocolate chip pancakes, an apple pie.

Goodness. That's a lot of cooking.

Don't get me wrong. I love cooking for my family.

I absolutely love having our family over to visit. I love waking up before most of the house is up to contemplate what to make for breakfast. I love hearing the sounds of my parents or in-laws making coffee in the kitchen. But most of all...I love that I have at least 2 or 3 people around to wash dishes. Ah yes. That's the life.

For the 4th of July, we ate pretty simply. Earlier in the day we went to a park and strolled through trails beautifully lined with heavy, thick green trees.

Afterwards we were tired, hot, and hungry, so we headed to the pool to cool off. We had some left over shredded pork that my father-in-law bought all the way from Miami, so we turned that into sandwiches and had potato wedges, potato salad, and pasta salad. The pie was a hit.

It's so easy to make and what makes it even easier is using a store-bought pie crust. I have yet to venture into the land of pie crusts. It scares me. After peeling all the apples, dump them into the pie shell and sprinkle flour, sugar (I used brown sugar), and dot with clumps of butter. Done!

Source: Scrumptini

I don't have exact measurements for this pie. Use your judgment- I'm sure you don't want cups of sugar and flour. I'd say to use around 1/3 cup of each between layers.

Peel and slice 7-8 apples for a deep dish pie or 5-6 for a regular pie (I used Granny Smith and peeled 4). Put apple slices in a bowl with water and 1 Tbl lemon juice so they don't get brown (You don't need to do this if you work quickly). Put a layer of apples in the pie shell and sprinkle with flour, sugar and a little cinnamon - (you can use brown sugar if you prefer). Dot with butter in a few places. Sprinkle with a dash of nutmeg. Add more apples and again sprinkle with flour, sugar and cinnamon- dot with butter. Repeat until the shell is mounded, as the apples cook down.

Crumb Topping

Use equal amounts of sugar and flour (about 1 cup each). Add a touch of cinnamon if desired. Mix with a fork and enough butter or margarine to become crumbly. Sprinkle over pie.

Bake at 325 for about 45 minutes for a regular pie or 1 - 1 1/4 hour for a deep dish, as more apples are used. After it has been cooking for 30 minutes keep a close watch to make sure the topping doesn't brown too much. (You can cover the pie with foil if it starts to get too dark.)