Do you remember me writing about that caramel apple lattice pie I was going to attempt this fall? Well, believe it or not folks, this weekend presented itself as the perfect opportunity to make that pie happen. Paul's mom came to visit us on Friday, and we were blessed with beautiful August weather in October! What a perfect weekend to check out the apple orchard!
We visited Emma Krumbees on Saturday and armed ourselves with two plastic bags to fill with baking apples. Up and down the rows we wandered, picking the best apples for our pies. Max was pretty good at choosing apples, but he tended to keep the best ones for himself.
Louie had a grand old time taking a few bites of many different apples, focusing on one until he saw another that caught his fancy. The path behind him was strewn with apples missing one bite.
It was a nice relaxing day, and we ended up taking home a haul of 25 pounds of apples! And that doesn't include the ones we consumed as we worked. I hope to get these guys back to the orchard again before the season is over, it was such a fun time!
On Sunday, the real work began. Paul entertained the kids all afternoon while Maureen and I slaved away in the kitchen. Actually, that's not quite true. We ran to the store to pick up a few ingredients we were missing, and when we returned, Max had already peeled and sliced nearly 20 apples! Did I tell you I purchased an apple corer-peeler-slicer? Yeah, these pies would not have happened without it. That thing is GENIUS, I tell you! Max can literally use it single-handed; all we have to do is stick the apple on for him. Awesome.
The filling was the easy part, but I was super nervous about making my own pie crust. I've never done it before, and in fact my rolling pin has been gathering dust in our drawer because of disuse. Thankfully, Maureen has made her share of pies before (World Youth Day fundraisers, anyone?) and had some words of wisdom for me. By the end of it, I think I had it down pretty well. Now I'm ready to do it all over again!
Pretty soon, we had four pies ready to go- three into the freezer and one into the oven. Paul got his caramel apple lattice pie after all, and if I must say so myself, it was pretty delicious. Thanks Maureen for all of the help! Four pies isn't such a monumental task with an experienced mother-in-law.
We thoroughly enjoyed our pie, and I felt a deep sense of accomplishment. Now that I can make a pie crust, I can probably do anything!
No comments:
Post a Comment