Meal # 47 Homemade Apple Pie

My friends the Hargers make this extraordinary apple pie and they refuse to share the recipe but I have been on the lookout for a while. I inherited some apples from a friend and decided I would have a go at it. I searched online and then decided on one that involved a lot of drizzling brown sugar goodness over a pile of apples. I got this apple peeling contraption from the Minor's for my wedding a couple of years ago. It took me 8 months to figure out what it did. But now I love it! It peels, cores and slices thin pieces of apples in seconds. So back to the pie. I have stopped making my own crusts for health reasons. Too much stress and crumbles. I buy the trusty packaged ones now and have a much better outlook on life. My mom in law was here and we made this together. It was absolutely beautiful with the lattice top. But what was even better was how it tasted. I can't say that it is Harger quality but I might be really close. I shared it with my students the next day and some of them had never had apple pie before. I had real joy giving them this first great experience. A boy even dropped his on the floor mid way through and ate the rest of the floor it was so good. I agreed with his choice, it was too good to waste.

So thanks to Lori & Tom Minor for the apple peeler. Thanks to the Hargers for keeping me motivated in beating your apple pie. And to my student who can appreciate good pie...even on the floor.

:)

Mmmm...pie.

Tiff

Meal # 46 Exploding Pyrex Dish

Yesterday I was in a baking mood and started on a new recipe from a favorite Bed and Breakfast cookbook featuring all the New England's favorite B and B's recipes. I was taking my beautiful blueberry gingerbread out of the oven and I set it on the stove burner to cool. Next, I started cleaning my cast iron griddle. I always dry it on a burner so I set it behind the cooling Pyrex dish and turned the burner on High. I then proceeded to walk away and clean the bathroom. I had just walked out of the bedroom when I heard the loudest explosion of my life. Which I am sure is nothing compared to what they are hearing in the Middle East but still...I saw my husband's face (he was a safe distance away) He yelled that my dish had exploded! I turned and looked and sho' nouf' glass shattered everywhere. Including about 10 feet away on the carpet. You have probably already figured out that I turned the wrong burner on and was putting concentrated heat onto my glass dish. It was sad to see it go. I also insisted on trying a little of the blueberry gingerbread to see if I would go to the trouble in making another one. My husband did not think this was a good idea because of some embedding glass poking out of the bread. But I am a die hard chef and we must always taste our creations..."glass or no glass" I hollered, "I must see!" I choose very carefully and tasted. It was good. So my cooking skills are increasing but my errors are still killing me.

Anybody have an extra 9 X 9 glass pan?

Tiffany

PS. I got this picture from http://qwickstep.com/search/pyrex-dish.html
because I forgot to take a picture.