Apple Pie for the 4th of July
Busy, busy, busy chiseling away at the weekend prepping for NEXT week. Next week? Uh yea, the 4th of July snuck up on us. How has half the year already come and gone. Bonkers, if you ask me.
The 4th has always been a day to celebrate for us. When we were young it was certainly in close competition with Christmas for favorite holiday. Our parents did it right. Huge cookout/pool party, backyard softball games, and a firework show put on by my dad where you were just never quite sure whether the woods would catch fire or we'd be calling 911 for a burn injury. Everyone would gather to watch the show (*dad diving through the smoke away from lit fireworks) and the kids would all run around later in the dark seeing who could find the most burned up firework remnants. Best. holiday. ever.
The 4th has evolved a bit over the years and we all leave the firework shows to the professionals (duh). Now it's still about fireworks and swim parties and eating and this year, camping! My Dad is a sucker for an apple pie and what goes better with the 4th of July than an apple pie?! We love to cook over the campfire and I've made many successful dutch oven cooks with coals but... I figured we'd pack a frozen pie to enjoy later than fuss with the fire. Have you looked at the weather, it's gonna be a scorcher!
I'm not a huge pie fan. I have a favorite pie (it's blackberry... or cherry... or this apple) but I'm not a huge pie fan, I'd rather have cake. I can still bake a mean pie though and this recipe is amazing. My mother-in-law's apple pie recipe (I'm not sure where she got it, I protect it like a family heirloom though, haha) is amazing. For me, I think it's the crumbly topping on top. Yum.
The 4th has always been a day to celebrate for us. When we were young it was certainly in close competition with Christmas for favorite holiday. Our parents did it right. Huge cookout/pool party, backyard softball games, and a firework show put on by my dad where you were just never quite sure whether the woods would catch fire or we'd be calling 911 for a burn injury. Everyone would gather to watch the show (*dad diving through the smoke away from lit fireworks) and the kids would all run around later in the dark seeing who could find the most burned up firework remnants. Best. holiday. ever.
The 4th has evolved a bit over the years and we all leave the firework shows to the professionals (duh). Now it's still about fireworks and swim parties and eating and this year, camping! My Dad is a sucker for an apple pie and what goes better with the 4th of July than an apple pie?! We love to cook over the campfire and I've made many successful dutch oven cooks with coals but... I figured we'd pack a frozen pie to enjoy later than fuss with the fire. Have you looked at the weather, it's gonna be a scorcher!
I'm not a huge pie fan. I have a favorite pie (it's blackberry... or cherry... or this apple) but I'm not a huge pie fan, I'd rather have cake. I can still bake a mean pie though and this recipe is amazing. My mother-in-law's apple pie recipe (I'm not sure where she got it, I protect it like a family heirloom though, haha) is amazing. For me, I think it's the crumbly topping on top. Yum.
I like to use Granny Smith apples for pies. Everyone has their faves and this is mine. All that sugar with the tartness of Granny Smith... perfection.
Enter the delicious topping...
Who knew butter, flour, and brown sugar could taste so good. Wait, who am I kidding, that is a great combination!
And into the oven little apple baby...
And 50 minutes later... ta da!!
My topping caught a bit, just a bit but nothing a little foil protection couldn't keep in check.
Anyone use those crust shields? You know, the metal rings that you can lay over your pie so your crust doesn't catch? I didn't use one of those today, more issues with the topping getting dark on this pie than the crust. When I was a kid, probably a teen, I was baking a pie for the 4H fair and I was using a crust shield to keep that crust in blue-ribbon territory. I went to take the pie out of the oven and my bulky oven mitt flipped the smokin' hot metal ring off the pie and directly onto my forearm! Since I was holding my fair pie it's not like I could risk throwing it down. Skin was sizzling and flesh was definitely damaged. For years I had a scar in the wavy pattern that is on top of the crust shield burned into my arm. Since that was like 20 years ago, it has since faded but the memory has also burned into my brain!
Enjoy those apple pies next week and happy 4th of July!
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