I’ve waited a long time for this, guys. Fall, that is. And pie. But mostly fall.
There’s something about the fall semester starting that makes me so impatient for the actual season to appear. It’s probably that I just want to wear scarves and boots and tights all the time. Mostly I think that I just get tired of walking 15 minutes to class every day in 85+ degrees and showing up sweaty as all hell. But I do really love my tight collection.
Seeing as it was the middle of October last week and still in the 80s, I was starting to lose hope that it would ever be fall.
And then…Friday happened. It rained all day, the leaves turned orange and fell off the tree in my front yard, and the air was brisk and breezy. I wore my favorite Burton coat. It was a rare sort of bliss.
And then I baked an apple pie. To celebrate, of course. Which isn’t to say that I haven’t made apple pie in the summer before. Actually, the pie in these pictures was one my mom made a few weeks ago while I was visiting my fam in Vegas*. But I digress…
I actually remember the first time I had apple pie. I’m not sure what my deal was when I was a kid, but apple pie majorly grossed me out. It seemed slimy and soggy from my 8 year old perspective (also, I grew up with chocolate pie, and nothing is better than that when you’re a young child. Or an adult, but whatever…).
And then one day, my mom baked an apple pie while we were on vacation at our cabin with my best friend. My mom cut me a slice and put a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Not wanting to seem too picky in front of my BFF, I put on my brave face and ate the whole thing (wow so deprived *eyeroll*). And then I was forever changed.
Sometimes I wonder if I would not have the constant, incessant craving for apple pie if I had just turned my nose at my mom’s that day. However, I like to think that I would be a much sadder person without it. It helps me justify eating microwaved apple pie with ice cream for breakfast, anyway.
So when you inevitably go apple picking and come home with 48 lbs. of beautiful, orchard grown apples, just set aside a few pounds to make this pie.
It will hug you and make you feel all the warm, fuzzy feelings.
Plus, it’s fall as hell. And that’s what I’m all about right now.
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*I am all for homemade pie crusts, but I’m not going to lie and tell you that’s what I did for this recipe. I definitely used a refrigerated Pillsbury crust because, well, I’m lazy. If you want to make it easy like I did, use the kind that you have to roll out, not the kind already in the tinfoil pie plate. It’s pretty close to the real thing.*
I really recommend preceding this pie with some kind of comfort meal such as garlic mashed potatoes, vegetable beef soup, or garlic herbed pork tenderloin.
But those are just a few ideas. Or you can come over and I’ll make you a cozy fall meal complete with the perfect apple pie, some spiced cider, and Cards Against Humanity while Hocus Pocus plays in the background.
The choice is yours.
*Song of the Day: Wake Me Up When September Ends–Green Day (throwing it waaayyy back, here).
*Thanks to my brother, Garrett for taking these pics!!
