Friends- Enjoying Easy Apple Pie!

"True friends are like diamonds – bright, beautiful, valuable, and always in style."

 ―Nicole Richie

This blog is short, but heart felt.

Some former fellow workers and close friends of mine made a road trip over here for lunch.

So, I made the dessert, and we dined at a local restaurant.

I had been waiting for an occasion to bake this dessert.

It was the perfect day!

Easy Skillet Apple Pie 
Making an apple pie has never been so easy. Simply toss apples, cinnamon, and brown sugar, and spoon over a refrigerated pie crust in the stoneware casserole dish or the cast-iron skillet. Top with the other crust and bake.
Ingredients

2 pounds Granny Smith apples
2 pounds Braeburn apples
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 (14.1-oz.) package refrigerated piecrusts
1 egg white
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350º. Peel apples, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges. Toss apples with cinnamon and 3/4 cup granulated sugar.
2. Melt butter in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat; add brown sugar, and cook, stirring constantly, 1 to 2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, and place 1 piecrust in skillet over brown sugar mixture. Spoon apple mixture over piecrust, and top with remaining piecrust. Whisk egg white until foamy. Brush top of piecrust with egg white; sprinkle with 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar. Cut 4 or 5 slits in top for steam to escape.
3. Bake at 350º for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly, shielding with aluminum foil during last 10 minutes to prevent excessive browning, if necessary. Cool on a wire rack 30 minutes before serving.

I got my idea from this recipe from Southern Living web sight.
However, I did not use a cast iron skillet, but a stoneware baking dish.  My baking dish happened to be Pampered Chef.

The casserole baked the pie to perfection!

This is a very flavorful apple pie.

It is the perfect dessert to make this fall season.

 Gather the ingredients.

I think it is important to use the two different kinds of apples.

The recipe calls for Braeburn, but I used Gala Apples.

Make sure to use the Granny Smith Apples for tartness.

Green, extremely tart, crisp, juicy and versatile, they’re available year-round. Grannies are a favorite of Washington state pie-bakers. They’re also excellent for snacking and salads. Warm days and cool summer nights ensure crunch and flavor for October harvest.

Origin

Introduction to market: 1868

Place of origin: Australia

Parentage: Believed to be descended from French crabapples cultivated by Australian grandmother Maria Ann Smith.

http://www.bestapples.com/varieties/varieties_granny_smith.aspx

 Peel and slice the apples.

 I added a squeeze of fresh lemon so the apple slices would not turn brown.

 Add the cinnamon and sugar.

 Instead of using a cast iron skillet, I used this stoneware baking dish

and followed the recipe in the same way.

 I cooked the butter and brown sugar in the microwave for 2 minutes.

 The bottom crust is put OVER the melted brown sugar and butter.

I am convinced the secret to this delicious pie is putting the bottom crust over

the melted brown sugar and butter!

Then the apple mixture is scooped over the bottom crust.

 The top pie crust is placed over the apple mixture.

 Beat an egg white until it is foamy.

Brush over the top crust.

 Sprinkle with white sugar.

Cut vents in the top crust for steam to escape.

 Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour 10 minutes.

Cool before serving.

 Colleen, Luci, and Fran sampling the pie.

 A great day with friends.

We have gone different directions since our early days at AHS,

but when we get together, it is like we picked up where we left off .

"Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything." ― Muhammad Ali

The end of a great afternoon!