Things I’ll Miss About Winter + Apple Pie!

I’m already missing my snowflakes.

In good ‘ol Tejas, we experience the oddest strangest damn near psychotic weather.
One day, there are tornadoes and flash floods, the next – it’s sunny and 85.
Today was one of those days – you know, the type that makes you want to go for a 5 mile jog, then come home and sip sweet tea on your massive wrap-around porch?

[Come on…I know I’m not the only one who does things like that.]

The weather was gorgeous! Sunny, not too hot and just the lightest breeze to tickle your skin. It reminded me of iced coffee, cake pops and frozen yogurt. Utter. Bliss.

Then it hit me.

Winter is leaving.

Peanuts – C. Shulz

Soup for dinner will be unacceptable. The awkward cold salad recipes will overflow my inbox (and seriously, like we haven’t had enough avocado + cucumber + kale remixes?) I’ll actually need to shave my legs. Goodbye Yeti season….
There are so many things I’m going to miss about my winter.

Mostly? The snowflakes.

In a proper send off to my favorite 3 months of the year – I’ve decided to add my apple pie recipe to the list of scrumptious “must eats” for you!

Sarah’s Cheater Apple Pie

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees! Then get to preppin’.

You start with the apples! [4 cups, or 3 medium-large apples]
I heart me some Braeburns, baby! They’re not too sweet and dance with just the right bit of tart. Dice ’em up or slice ’em. You’re choice. I prefer smaller cubes. No need to have ginormous slices that can’t fit in your mouth…right? Or maybe, that could be hysterical! we’ll research this.

Don’t fret about their slight tartness, loves. We’ll add in a cup of sugar and sweeten them up to perfection!

Now, zest in half a lemon and the juice from that same halfsie. Leave the seeds, please!
This acid balances out the sweet, and is barely discernible. However, take it out…and your guests will notice. Hand to heaven!

Shake in half a teaspoon of salt.
Toss in a teaspoon of cinnamon.

Voila!

The filling is complete. :]

Now, you’re wondering…where’s the “cheater” part?

It’s all in the crust!

I love using refrigerated dough for pies. It’s wonderfully cheap college-budget friendly, and already chilled. You’ll need one package, 2 crusts, to make one pie. I’m not a fan of open-faced pie. You need to have all that flaky goodness!
Just pop the dough out of the wrapping, unroll it and place it in a 9-in. pie pan. [I just inherited a wonderful pie dish, about 20 years old. What a beaut!]

Don’t forget the buttah!

Spoon the filling on the crust in the pie dish. Spread out the deliciousness and try not to eat much of it. [insert evil kitchen genius laugh here and totally eat a spoonful – or two]

Take a few (3-4) half teaspoonfuls of butter [the real stuff] and plop them around the pie, right on top of the filling.

Roll the second pie crust on top of the filling and sploosh, crimp, close the crusts together with a fork [or your sexy baking fingers] and make sure it’s sealed.
Cut a few slits in the top of the pie and stand back for a second.

Admire that PIE!
B-E-A-utiful, no? Of course it is!

Now, scoop it up and pop it into the oven you preheated to 450 degrees. Set the timer for 15 minutes.
Once the timer dings, turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees and continue baking that fabulous pie for another 30 minutes.

Just wonderful.

I caution you to wait a moment [or close to 10 minutes] before gobbling it up.
Also, if you have some yummy vanilla bean ice cream (or old-fashioned vanilla) in that glorious freezer – add a scoop and make your dish a la mode!

Much love for pie (and you),
CerebellumChef