Best parts of September

1.  The return of cooler temperatures.
2.  The month of my birth.
3.  Apple Pie.

I love apple pie.  And several years ago while being bored in Shreveport, I embarked upon an apple pie adventure.  Similar to my more recent chocolate chip cookie adventure.  (I so wish I desired how to bake the perfect veggie burger or really, anything healthy at all.)

I used a new crust recipe this time.  Ina Garten's perfect pie crust.  And since Ina does no wrong, it was, as she said, perfect.  Make sure you pop the butter and shortening in the freezer for about 10 minutes to get it good and cold before throwing it into the food processor.

As for the filling on this pie go around, I winged it.  I wanted to see what came out when I just eyeballed a bunch of ingredients and poured it into this crust.  Here's about what went into the filling ~

8 green apples from the farmer's market
2 T flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

I've had bad run ins with too much vanilla and too much all spice in the past when I just play around with the pie so I left them both out this time.  I think the filling could have used a touch of vanilla.

Not that there's a bad apple pie.  Next up is Tyler Florence's Ultimate Apple Pie.  Or perhaps Alton's.  His has a lot more ingredients and requires cooking the filling prior to putting it in the pie.  Interesting...

Needless to say, I'll be stocked up on apples all fall.  They make excellent centerpieces between baking.