Apple Pie

My parents were in town last week (which is part of the reason I didn't post that much, but the other part is because I am lazy) which brought tons of visitors.  It seems that everybody that comes to visit us knows more people here than we do.  It helps us meet new people, but kind of stinks that we don't know anybody.

In the course of the weekend, my mom's second cousin, Marie, and her husband came on Friday night for dinner, my mom's childhood friend came on Saturday for lunch, and my college roommate and her family came on Sunday for dinner.  By the time the weekend was over we were beat, but very happy to have so many visitors.

Marie brought us a big box of apples from the apple tree in her back yard.  I've only seen her one other time since we moved here, while my sister was visiting, and that time she brought us peaches.  I would love an apple and peach tree in my back yard, but apparently they only produce fruit about once every six years here.  The trees give fruit in the summer/fall, but freeze the following spring, and don't recover enough to produce fruit again for 5-6 years.  I think that would drive me bonkers, so I'm okay with no fruit trees.

Anyway, huge box of apples.  There is no way we can eat them all and a lot of them have spots and worm holes and other issues since, as Marie's husband put it, they are organic and free range so I decided to make an apple pie.  From scratch.  For some people this is no big deal, but I've never made a pie before except those ice cream pies where you buy a pre-made crust, melt the ice cream in it and then refreeze it.  No brainer.

Charlie helped by peeling the apples and my mom and I cut them, but that's all I would let them do.  I wanted to do it myself.  Except for missing the part where you can, but don't have to, add cinnamon for flavoring, the pie turned out really good.  I was so excited that a few days later I made a second one.  Unfortunately we didn't want to eat another pie, so I made it for my neighbor.  I didn't taste it, but I'm pretty sure that one turned out even better.

I still have apples left and would love to make one more pie, but I don't have anybody else to give one to and since Charlie and I are trying so hard not to eat junk, another pie in the house is not a good idea.  I may cave anyway, because I get on kicks like this where I make something and I have to keep doing it over and over again, even when it doesn't make sense and there are a ton of other things I should be doing instead.  I just think it's cool that I can make a pie.  Plus I love to bake.

Next summer I'm going to make cherry.

Here's a picture of pie #2.  We ate the first one so quickly I forgot to take a picture :)