In our family, apple pie equals Love.
And it always signals that it’s time for a Family Meeting. I started this tradition years ago: if we had something to discuss as a family, we did it on a Sunday night with an apple pie and a pot of tea (mostly made of hot milk and honey when the boys were little).
For me, for some reason, traditions like ‘Family Meeting and Apple Pie’ are hugely important. When we became immigrants 23 years ago, I wanted some way to feel at home. Rituals and traditions helped me feel grounded.
So, pie.
In Australia, most pies are savoury: beef, steak and mushroom, chicken. In Canada, all pies are sweet: pumpkin, apple, peach, Saskatoon berry, ‘bumbleberry.’ For our family, old fashioned apple pie brings a little bit of Canada into Sydney.
Here’s how I make mine. I kind of shocked myself to realise that, after years of practice, I can make a pie in under twenty minutes. I’ve been making apple pies for 34 years, since I was a teenager.
You’ll need 6-8 apples, butter, plain flour, white sugar and cinnamon.
Preheat oven to 180 C /350 F.
The most delicious crust
Soften 3/4 cup butter (cut in small cubes).
Sift together 2 cups plain flour and 1/4 cup icing sugar.
Mix butter into the flour mixture, until it crumbles. Use your hands or a pastry blending tool.
Add 1/4 cup water and mix.
Divide pastry in half and roll out two rounds on baking paper! This makes it easy to flip into your pie plate.
The filling
Peel, core and slice 6 large - 8 small apples
Layer apples on the crust.
Sprinkle with 1/2 cup white sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon
Add 2 tablespoons of butter, dotted on top of apples
Cover with top crust, crimp edges.
Bake for around 50-60 minutes.
Pies are best when the apples are soft, so start checking your pie at 45 minutes. I poke a knife into the apples peeking through the ‘vents’ on the top crust. The apples should be soft when the pie is done.
That’s it!
Over to you, friends. And trust me: when there’s a family meeting on the cards, a home baked apple pie makes it so much better.
Enjoy your weekend. Have some fun (or some pie!), and be fun to live with!
Love, Catherine x
PS.
Remember those excellent posture exercises? I’m still doing them.
Some (realistic) beauty hacks for you.
The set up from my library book talk last week…take a peek. Loved catching up with a few blog readers there, too!