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Favorite Recipe: GRANDMA'S APPLE PIE
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My grandma used to make a wonderful coffee cake. It has raisins and crumbly crust, it was the best at Christmas time, but we thought it was a treat throughout the year when she made it. She got the recipe from the Settlement Cookbook from Milwaukee. The book that I've been fortunate enough to inherit was published in 1951, the thirty-first edition. Original publication was 1901. It evolved from a project to educate people from "impoverished countries who knew little of this land of plenty." A committee of Milwaukee matrons took it upon themselves to create a book that would help immigrants not only learn to read, but to cook. The note on the title page says, "the way to a man's heart..." There is a section called household rules with information about setting a table, weights and measures and using a window box outside the pantry or kitchen window to keep food cool. I don't remember the window box from my grandma's kitchen, but I remember the leafy great apple tree in the yard that shaded the kitchen and provided apples for her apple pie that was the best. Of course the crust recipe came from the Settlement Cookbook, lots of butter, that's the trick.
My grandma would make boatload of pies at one time, rolling that crust out all afternoon. She stacked those pies in her freezer, wrapped in aluminum foil. Then during the holidays, she would give us a pie to take home with us. My mom would take the foil off the pie and pop it into the oven and you could smell it baking in there, knowing that it was going to come out all crusty and cinnamon-y and not too sugary. It tasted of apples and not syrup.And, of course, we had pie with our holiday meals at grandma's too. We were over there every Christmas and Easter and every other month during the year too. We didn't have the pie every time, but when we did, it was always a special treat. It always felt warm and cozy in my grandma and grandpa's home. My grandpa would listen to the Milwaukee Braves on the radio in the kitchen. He rocked back and forth in his rocking chair with his leg swung over the side. Sometimes he smoked a cigar. Other times he got out his harmonica and played Oh Suzanna.
When my grandma canned pickles, he always said, "who put all that hay in the cucumbers," because my grandma used fresh dill.

THE RECIPE
The Crust
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening or butter
1/4 cup cold water (about)
Melt fat, add water and mix with rest to a smooth dough. Chill before rolling on floured board. Shape and bake. Yields a top and bottom crust.

The Pie
4-5 granny smith apples or apples of your choice
cinnamon to taste
brown sugar to taste
nutmeg to taste if desired
Other spices to taste if desired

The "How-To" Part
Core and slice about 6-8 granny smith apples or apples of your choice. Toss in a bowl to taste with the spices. Put aside.
Remove the chilled crust from the refrigerator. Dust surface where you will roll it out and rolling pin slightly with flour. Use about 3/4 of the crust for the bottom. Roll out the bottom crust to 1/4 inch thick from the center to the edges with short strokes, keeping it as round as possible. It it begins to split at the edge, pinch the cracks together. If the dough sticks to the surface, loosen and dust with flour. Transfer the bottom crust to the pie tin and prick it with a fork about 4 times so that it doesn't bubble up. Trim off the edges with a knife. Bake in 425 degree oven to brown slightly and so it doesn't become soggy when you bake it with the fruit in it.
Remove the crust from the oven and fill with the apples. Roll out the top crust, fold in half and transfer it to cover the pie. Then unfold it to cover the fruit. Make 3 or 4 slashes in it with a knife to allow the steam to escape. Pinch the edges to attach to the bottom crust. Trim off the edges with a knife.
Bake at 450 degrees for 12 minutes. Reduce heat and bake another 20 to 40 minutes until the top crust is browned at the edges.

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11 Free Christmas Recipe E-books by Pierre Du Plessis

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