Easy Giant Apple Pie

Cool weather is here, hurray! I rarely cook in the summer (except for grilling), but now that autumn is on the way, I am getting the “cooking bug” once again. And right now, apples are everywhere. The kids have been busy picking, peeling, and dicing apples for our freezer. All winter long, I have access to instant-cubed apples that I can easily thaw and throw into a pie or crisp or anything we fancy.

So today I made Easy Giant Apple Pie. If you have peeled and diced apples and ready-made packaged pie crusts, this recipe takes about 15 minutes to throw together– it’s SO easy! And I call it “Giant” because it is a huge pie, baked in a casserole dish. This is nice if you have a lot of kids to feed (like me) or a big crowd, if you love leftover pie, or if you’re skipping the appetite suppressant and just want to bake a big pie.

Technically, this kind of apple pie is called “French” apple pie, because it has no top crust. Rather, it has a crumbly streusel topping. It’s fabulous with coffee or ice cream.

Regarding the spices– add to your own liking. I rarely use measuring utensils (I’m a hands-on kind of cook) so the measurements here are approximate. Also, make sure your pie crusts are room temperature. This makes them more flexible without tearing– you are going to need to pull at the crusts a little to fit them into a rectangular 13×9 casserole dish.

Easy Giant Apple Pie

2 pie crusts
1 13×9 casserole dish

for the pie mix:
10 cups (or so) of pared and diced apples (thawed)
3/4 cup raisins (optional)
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup molasses (optional)
1/4 cup ground flax seed meal (optional)
2 Tablespoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 cup flour

for the topping:
1 stick of butter
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Blend the topping ingredients and mash in the butter until the mix looks gravelly.

Mix up the apples and other ingredients for the pie filling.

Take your pie crusts. Make sure they are room temperature.

Gently unroll one of the crusts and place it into the casserole dish. You want to stretch it a little to make the crust fit up along the sides of the dish.

Unroll the second crust and overlap the first a little. Press the seam together where the two meet. Again, make sure your crust fits up along the inner sides of the dish.

Dump the pie filling in the dish. Sprinkle the topping evenly on top.

Bake in a hot oven at 400 degrees for an hour and twenty minutes. The pie should be bubbling. The baking pie makes the house smell INCREDIBLE.

Doesn’t it look scrumptious?? Yum!

Bread Machine Woes

My bread machine died. This is my second machine. I have only had this one about a year and a half, and I didn’t even use it for half a year! Today, I filled up the bucket, added all the ingredients, went to start it, and *grind*.

photo credit: Otto Phokus

We got a closer look at the mechanism and see the problem– the (bear with me here, I don’t know the engineering terminology) turning pin at the bottom of the bucket (the pin that holds the paddle in the bucket, and is spun by the motor in the machine itself) has no more grease and is all rusty. And I recall that the last time I made bread with this machine, there was a ton of grease that worked its way up into the bucket and contaminated my dough. :-p Gah!!!

Why do they make bread machines this way?!?! My daughter made the good point: “Why don’t they just make the bread machine with the paddle on the top?”

Yeah. Why don’t they?! It’s rather dumb to have the greased-up paddle on the bottom, because things like this happen. And grease gets in the dough. Not too good. Why don’t they make these things a little more durable, smarter? It’s not like you need Ferrari parts or anything, just have a GOOD design!

Anyone have any ideas? Do you have a better-built bread machine? Do you think I should go with an standing electric mixer to make my bread?? I’m baffled. I really need a dough-making machine now that autumn and winter and coming. I’d sure appreciate any reviews, comments, or advice…

Easy Apple Crisp

I just love autumn! It’s cooler, it’s crisper, the air smells glorious, and my apple tree has produced fruit! Yay!!! What a wonderful crop so far!

The boys volunteered to harvest the fruit, and then they volunteered to peel and dice the apples! This is because they knew what awaited them if they did: Apple Crisp. I serve it warm with ice cream, and it’s a favorite dessert. I make a TON of it at one time. The leftover serves well for breakfast the next day, or for a repeat dessert the next evening (all you have to do is sprinkle some extra oatmeal on the leftovers and bake again for 20 minutes).

Here’s my Easy Apple Crisp recipe. It’s my favorite dessert recipe because it so easy– I’d much rather do the quick-and-easy stuff so I can spend more time looking for nice women shoes or reading my books.

Easy Apple Crisp
serves 10

10 to 12 cups of apples, pared and diced
2 cups of brown sugar OR 1 3/4 cups of white sugar and 1/2 cup molasses
3 sticks butter (preferred) or margarine
1 cup flour
2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ginger

You’ll need a very large casserole dish– I use my nice huge one. Grease it up generously with margarine or butter. Dump your diced apples into the dish and pat down.

Concerning the brown sugar– you can use straight brown sugar, or you can do what I did if you don’t have any or don’t feel like making any– and that is, coat your apples with 1/2 cup of molasses before adding anything else. This is what I did for this recipe.

In a large mixing bowl, mash your sticks of butter just a little, with a sturdy fork. Add the sugar to the butter and mash it some more. It does not need to be very well-mixed, just blended. (Remember this is “Easy” Apple Crisp!).

Add the flour, oatmeal, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, and mix it together. Dainty ladies use forks, but when I use them, I just make a mess all over the countertop. You can feel free to ditch the fork and mash the stuff with your hand.

When blended, dump the oatmeal/margarine/sugar mix on top of your apples in the dish. Spread it around with your hand– don’t pat it down because the apples will need room to “breathe” while they bake. I take my hands and poke holes into the apples, to allow the oats and butter to sink in.

Place in a pre-heated oven set at 350 degree, and bake for an hour. It will smell HEAVENLY while it bakes.

Serve warm with cream or ice cream.

This is a great quickie dessert for those autumn evenings. Enjoy!

Autumn is Arriving

In the summer, I don’t do a lot of creative cooking. I may slap some meat and veggies on the grill with some funky seasoning, but life is too busy to fuss in the kitchen during the summer. Autumn, however, is a different matter. The crispy, chilled air and the abundance of garden produce really makes me feel like cooking again! And FINALLY the grapes and apples are producing! This is our first year for both. Look at my marvelous grapes!

I’m so proud of them.

My apples are producing, too– we have the MacIntosh and JonaGold varieties in the yard. The bugs seems to be getting to them first, but I’m hoping I can get enough for a few pies yet. Be prepared to pack some diet pills, because I’m getting ready to cook– meals AND desserts! Mmmm. I’m compiling a bunch of autumn recipes, so stay tuned!

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