Tag Archives: yummy

January 22, 2013 · 10:20 am

hot hot heat

Last Friday I experienced some of the hottest temperatures that I have ever felt on my fair Canadian skin. Sydney peaked at a sunny 45 degrees celcius.

forty. five.

Granted, that is only five degrees hotter than the bikram yoga room… however, Bikram yoga is practiced at that heat to make you SWEAT, and sweat A LOT, but I usually don’t go about my daily routine in the hot room. And furthermore, I wear signicantly more clothing when I am outside a Bikram class. So… five degrees is like, ridiculous.

I don’t even know how to explain it. Really hot is pretty much it.

Anyway, Sean and I decided that an after work swim was in order… so at around 7pm we drove to the Eastern Beaches. When we got in the car the temperature had already dropped to 35 and by the time we reached the beach ten minutes later it was 24. YOU GUYS! What… the WHAT?

We took a dip anyway as the sun was setting and I was actually shivering. It’s a strange country I live in these days.

Let’s talk about summer food! Summer salads… BBQs… light… fresh!

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I got this recipe from my boyfriend’s mom. I swapped a couple of ingredients and kablammy! A delicious summer salad/salsa thing that is delish.

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Corn & Avocado Salad

4 stalks of spring onion

1 cob of corn (bbqed & chopped of the cob)

2 tomatoes (seeded and chopped)

1 avocado (chopped)

1/4 c. parsley (chopped)

1/2 red capsicum

juice of one lime

salt & pepper to taste

This salad is pretty straight forward.

First cook the corn. I BBQd mine cause I prefer that taste, but you can boil it also. Set it aside to cool.

Quarter the tomatoes. De-seed them and sprinkle with a tiny bit of salt. I find that this helps them to dry out a tiny bit so the salad doesn’t get watery. Chop the spring onions, red capsicum, and avocado. Chop the tomatoes quite small and cut the corn off the cob. Finely chop the parsley and toss everything in a bowl with the juice of one lime. Season to taste.

SO yummy.

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x

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Aside

it’s pie time again…

Criscoooooo!

When I go back to Canada… whenever that might be… I am going to STOCK UP on Crisco. Can I do that? Can I bring vegetable shortening back in my suitcase? I think that’s allowed.

I’m goin’ for it.

This is a pie. This is THEE pie? This is a pie that I ate from the pie plate with a fork and occasionally vanilla ice cream. This is a pie with a crumbly crust and a delicious soft apple filling. This is a pie that Sean requested I bake.

How ’bout Strawberry?
No.

Rhubarb?
Huh?

Rhubarb-Apple?
Are you not listening?

…Just apple then.
Yes.

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He’s stunting my baking. I swear.

Pies and scones please.

—Homeboy, lets get some variety up in here.

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This might be a pie for him. But this is MY pie. I made it. My love is in this pie. Along with some flour and Crisco.

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Apple Pie. I’ve made it before.

It doesn’t need frills, or raisins. or cheese slices. Just apples and cinnamon.

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Merry December!

Apple Pie

Crust:
2 c. of all-purpose flour
1 c. of vegetable shortening
1/2 c. of ice cold water (or more depending on the day-whatever it takes for the pie to form together)
couple shakes of salt

Filling:

1/2 c. of sugar
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 vanilla bean
Just a pinch or two of salt
Usually about 8 or 9 apples. In other words: lots.
6-7 dots of margarine

For the Crust:
Mix the flour and salt. Sifting the flour helps with mixing later on.Cube your shortening and cut it into the flour a couple cubes at a time until a course mixture is formed. Crumbs should be about pea size, but not bigger and not too small! Next add the cold water (make sure its cold!) and mix until combined. Try not to use your hands too mcuh. When the dough forms a loose ball, divide into two and wrap each in glad wrap. Place in fridge for at least an hour or overnight.

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For Filling:
Pre-heat the oven to 400*F.
Chop the apples (no need to peel), place in a large bowl and add the sugar,  flour, cinnamon, vanilla and salt.

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Mix it up until all the apples are coated in sugar. Take your dough and roll out the bottom crust. Make sure your surface and rolling pin are floured well. Place the rolled crust into a pie plate and place the apple slices into the bottom. Dot the apples with margarine. Next roll out the top crust and place on top. Pinch the edges to secure the top and bottom. Make 5 of 6 slices in the top of the pie to allow the steam to release. You can brush the top with some soy milk and sprinkle with raw sugar to help it brown a bit.

Place the pie in the pre-heated oven and allow to bake for 50-60 minutes.

Remove, serve with ice cream, on a plate, or on the pie. Eat out of the pie plate if necessary.

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It’s almost always necessary.

xxx

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7 Comments

December 9, 2012 · 5:33 am
October 14, 2012 · 6:13 am

granola cruncher

Granola is a happening thing. Not just for tree huggers and hippies anymore. Not just for women who wear bucket hats with a ying yang patch on the front, using walking sticks and wearing hiking boots with their socks pulled up to the mid-calf.* Not just for those hooligans who don’t shave their  legs or wear deodorant. Those people are on to bigger and better things. Like hemp seeds and acai berries.

Me, I always liked granola. Especially from Rube. Rube is an older gentleman who works at the St. Lawrence market in Toronto. He has a little stand that sells rice and dried beans and quinoa, (he sold Quinoa before quinoa was cool, back when we were all pronouncing it Quinn-oh-ah), and also Granola. He sells lots of Granola. Out of huge tubs with metal scoops and into small brown bags wrapped up with a red elastic.

Ahhh Rube. He sold me granola every Saturday morning for most of my childhood. He let me weigh my own bag on his little scale… and then I would bust open the brown paper and eat all the raisins and apple pieces, those rolled oats were for suckers. I still do that, eat all the fruit that is. Just ask my dad the day after he buys a box of granola or muesli. Or ask my boyfriend. If you buy a breakfast cereal with fruit bits, you better believe that when you go to have a bowl in a couple days, there won’t be any fruit bits left. That’s just how I roll.

This granola is very unlike Rube’s Granola. But I would never even dream of trying to replicate his, cause I would never succeed. It’s the best granola ever.

This one is good too, it’s banana bread granola. It tastes like a big loaf of banana bread, but crunchy and in a bowl with some fruit and milk. yum.

Banana Bread Granola
adapted from here

Ingredients

3-4 c. old-fashioned oats

1 c. puffed millet (or puffed rice whatevs)

2 ripe bananas

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/3 cup maple syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch of sea salt

1/2 cup walnuts

1/2 cup banana chips
Granola is pretty basic. Smoosh the bananas up – Mix the wet, mix the dry (excluding the banana chips), mix together and spread on a baking sheet (or two). Bake for 25-30 minutes at 325*C. Stir in Banana chips

Eat warm. It will harden as it cools and become very crunchy!

It’s not Rubes, but it’ll do for now.

xxx

*that woman is not fictional. She is all too real- A woman from my neighbourhood who I met on many walks on the Scarborough bluffs. She once stopped me to ask if my puppy was a ‘bitch or a dog’.  I was 11 years old. I knew only of bitch being a bad word, not meaning female dog, so needless to say I  was taken aback. When I told my mom, my mom replied with… “Oh she’s a Granola cruncher” and so now when I think of Granola crunchers I think only of that woman and her stupid ying-yang bucket hat.

And FOR the RECORD. you do not need hiking boots to walk around the Scarborough bluffs. Ok? It’s just unnecessary. Not exactly mountainous terrain…

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May 21, 2012 · 11:50 am

Fancy a prune? How ’bout a date?

Things areeeeeee happening!

Leaves have fallen, scarves have been purchased, leases have been signed, boxes have been packed, and dates have been pureed.

datin’

Yep, stuff is going down in funky town. Exciting things, sad things, scary things… but also delicious things. In the form of date squares. Very simple, very delicious and somewhat healthy. I used to think that dates squares were for old people. Totally for old people.

I think I associated them with prunes. Which definitely carry negative connotations of being primarily enjoyed by senior citizens, in juice form… weird.

I hated prunes when I was little. You know why?! Yeah youuuu know. I’m looking at you Dad… and those god awful prune muffins you made that ONE time. I honestly don’t even remember if they were that bad, but my brother and I made a point of hating them and never letting my Dad live it down.

Hey Dad… Member that time you made those horrible prune muffins…? yeah… me too.

Funny thing is, my Dad is now an incredible baker. Like top-notch. After the Prune-muffin incident (henceforth known as The PMI), I don’t think he baked again until I was in highschool. Or maybe he did and I blocked it out of my memory because of The PMI. Anyway, I was uber skeptical of his baking for a while, but day after day I would come home from school and there would be warm muffins, cookies and scones piled high on the kitchen table. It didn’t take long for me to forget all about the PMI. And when I did… there were muffins to consume on the regular. And consume them I did. Two at a time.

However, that is not really the point. The point is, I thought dates were gross, until I finally tasted my Dad’s date squares. After crossing over to the vegan-side, I thought that date-squares should be an easy treat to re-create vegan styles. I found this great recipe on OhSheGlows. Check it out. And make it!

I’ve presented these date squares to many a people, all of whom have been thoroughly impressed given the simple ingredient list. These can easily be made raw and gluten free!

yum

Date-Squares
From OhSheGlows!

1 1/2 c. roasted almonds

1 1/2 c. rolled oats

1 tsp. salt

1/4 c. (or slightly more) melted coconut oil

3 c pitted dates

First, add 2 1/2 c. of the chopped dates to 1/2 c. of boiling water.

For the crust, put the almonds, salt and oats in the food processor and blend into a fine crumble. Add about 1/2 c. of chopped dates and blend until combined. Add the coconut oil and blend once more until the crumble is sticky.

Set aside 1/2 c. for crumbling on top, and then pack the rest into an 8″x8″ parchment lined pan. Press down the crumble until it is packed in.

Next, blend up the remaining dates and boiling water until a paste is formed. Scoop the paste on top of the crust and spread until even. Sprinkle the remaining crumble on top and press lightly.

Allow the squares to set in the freezer for 1-2 hours before slicing and enjoying! Keep in freezer or fridge, as the coconut oil needs to stay solid to hold everything together.

yum.

x

 

 

 

 

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April 29, 2012 · 11:32 am

happy one year

Autumn is here! The cool, windy weather is making me giddy and has me itching to buy scarves and wooly sweaters. Although this autumn will never turn into a proper winter… not here in Sydney anyway. I’m still excited and sort of surprised to look at the ground and see fallen leaves in hues of burnt orange and red. I didn’t think that happened in this country. So ill informed, I am.

And here we are. It’s been a year. A year since I started writing this little blog and a year since I moved to Australia. (In fact I just checked and tomorrow marks exactly one year since I first posted here. It’s somewhat of an anniversary I suppose…)

It seems odd to me, that it’s been that long. Even as I write this, it seems wrong. Where has the year gone? Has it really been that long since I’ve been home? Since I’ve seen my puppy? Since I’ve slept in my own bed? I suppose it has. Sometimes It feels like eons ago and sometimes not so much. Either way, I have mixed emotions. I’m very happy at this moment in time, in this lifestyle. I get to live in a beautiful country with a beautiful man. I get to sip delicious coffee and eat delicious food, and I get to gallivant about Sydney. And there are Palm trees. PALM TREES everywhere! But I do miss my Canadian home, my friends and my family. Some days are harder than others…

I won’t be gone forever… but I think that somewhere in the back of my mind, I thought that I might be back for a visit around now. Well, life is life. And it would seem that I won’t be visiting home just yet. Still, the weather is making me nostalgic for Canada. I am half expecting some winter winds and frosty mornings.

Now before I start tearing up over my keyboard (ooops, too late) let’s move on to a sweeter subject. Banana Bread! Cause who doesn’t need a little comfort food when the cold weather hits (bringing with it just a dash of reality…)

so dense and delicious

Well, I sure needed it this week. And I might need a little more right now. In fact, as I sit here typing this, there is a second loaf of bread baking in the oven. Yes, cause the loaf I made last night is nearly gone. (this recipe is REALLY yummy)

raspberries look sooo sophisticated when cooked.

I think it’s kind of fitting that I post a Banana-bread on the one year anniversary of this blog. When I first arrived in Australia Bananas were a whopping $14 a kilo… all I wanted in the world was to bake with them. Haha… Well this week I stumbled upon a bounty of bananas for just 99cents! So as fate would have it:

Raspberry-Banana Bread
to soothe your soul

1.5 c. whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 c. raw sugar

2 tbsp. ground flax (+ 1/4 c. water)

2-3 bananas (mushed up)

1/2 c. rice milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. chopped walnuts

3/4 c. raspberries (fresh or frozen)

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. whisk the flax seed with the water and allow to sit and thicken for about five minutes. Mix the wet ingredients and add in the flax seeds, then add the wet mixture to the dry and mix until just combined. Now fold in the walnuts and raspberries. Pour into a loaf pan(greased or lined) and baked at 350* for about an hour.

Eat warm, eat cool, eat at the coffee shop with a delicious cold coffee. Eat after it has been smushed in your bag by your ginormous camera, because honestly… it’s still good.

I guess a lot has happened in a year. I mean just browse through this little ditty. This here marks my 45th post. Almost one a week. Not too shabby Hicks.

For now I will just have to keep baking, it calms any storms a’brewing in my mind and reminds me of home. And to ease the pain of being away from my puppy, I snuggle up with this little guy.

Odin

He’s no dog.dog.DOG… but he’s as close as I’m going to get for a couple more months. And he is pretty cute.

hello adorable.

xxx

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September 15, 2011 · 11:48 am

Zucchini-Apple bread… with toasted walnuts

Last weekend the boy and I got to go on another wine tour. We’re pretty much experts now.

While swirling his glass, ‘I’m definitely picking up notes of… grapes. Yes. definitely grapes.’

Swoon. He’s such a high society man. However, I won’t bore you with the details of more boozy afternoons.

It’s Spring here… and feeling like almost summer. The mornings are getting much much lighter, so much so that I am able to run at 6am. The only other people out at that time are other morning joggers. I never realized what a nice time of day it is. The light is so perfect, and the sunrise is beautiful. I kinda wish I could run with my camera… but that might be pushing it.

I’ve got heaps of extra time now at lunch and after work. So what better way to fill that time… than to drool over baked goods on foodgawker and then promptly march home to make them.

I’ve noticed that zucchini cakes are really bursting onto the scene lately… and I’d call it fate, since I had numerous zucchinis in my fridge.

On a mid-week grocery shop last Wednesday I happened to walk into Woolies at the exact moment when a stock boy was putting out crates and crates of discounted fruits and vegetables. Without even thinking twice, I grabbed a bag and stuffed it full with TWO bananas… (the last two) 3 zucchinis, 4 tomatoes, 1 lime and a cucumber. The total cost? TWO DOLLARS. Man o man. I was buzzing. It takes a certain personality to get this excited over discounted food. But combine my love of a sale, with my low potassium and my budget-savy mind… and I tell ya. There was so much reason to celebrate. I mean come on! Two bananas ALONE woulda been a deal. Though I must point out that my beloved bananas have recently dropped from 14.99/kilo to just 10.99! Summmmmer’s a-comin!

Anyhow, the point of the story was the zucchinis and how I had an abundance of them. The only logical thing to do would be to bake a zucchini bread. So I did.

It was delicious. By far, the most deliciously healthy bread eva. Check out the ingredient list… its amazing. No dairy, no refined sugar… no white flour. AND an entire fruit and a vegetable. Innncredible.

Zucchini Apple Bread

Adapted from this recipe

1 1/2 c. whole wheat spelt flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. all spice

 

3/4 c. grated zucchini

3/4 c. grated apple

1/2 c. roasted walnuts

 

1 tbsp. chia seeds with 3 tbsp. water (chia egg)

1/2 c. maple syrup

1/4 c. coconut oil

Sift the dry ingredients together and set aside.

In a large bowl mix the wet ingredients. Partially combine the dry and the wet before stirring in the grated zucchini and apple and walnuts.* Mix until just combined, and then pour into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes to start, however mine took closer to an hour.

*I’ve made this bread twice now, once without straining the zucchini and apple. It was extremely moist. So much so that when I stuck a knife in, it came out with what looked like raw dough on it. However, even after leaving it in the oven for an extra 15 minutes, the middle didn’t completely bake. It was still delicious, just very moist in the center. The second time I baked it, I strained about 1/2 c. of liquid from the zucchini and apple and the bread was still VERY moist. In my oven, it still took at extra 15 minutes to bake. I’m not sure, but it was still amazing, so unless you hate really moist or dense breads… this is still a must bake!

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August 1, 2011 · 11:42 am

The bread of my dreams…

cinnamon pull-apart bread

I’ve been dreaming of making this bread for weeks, months even. And since Monday I have had the uncontrollable urge to stare at pictures of it and study every recipe and every version that I could find. It didn’t take much to find a vegan version… so I’ve been researching and gathering ingredients since my Monday evening grocery shop. With all that being said, the research, the studying, the drooling… its actually kind of impressive that I STILL misread the recipe and forgot a step. But… that’s not unusual coming from me.
…
This past week was beautiful and such a stark contrast to last week. Not a drop of rain. Beautiful sunny days, crisp mornings and cool evenings. Perfect running weather, very ‘autumn in Canada’-esque. The days are definitely getting longer, too. The sun is just setting as I leave work. I’m so ready summer nights…

But in the mean time, the best baked good are those suited to the cool weather. Conditions were perfect; beautiful day, gorgeous light, Sean was going biking… the apartment would be empty and I would be able to play music, throw flour and dominate as much space as was necessary for baking and photography needs, which is of course the entire apartment. 🙂

apples and raisins

I started as soon as I woke up. I can never find applesauce at Woolworth’s, so that was my first task, fresh applesauce. Next I whipped up some dough, and then left it to rise for the next hour as I doodled about and went for a run.

When I returned, I tried my hand at the kneading process, something I have zero experience in… so I really have no idea how I went at that. I’m seriously considering taking the bread making course at the North Sydney community centre in August. I seem to have quite a few gaps in my bread baking knowledge.

I allowed the dough to rise for another 5 minutes and then rolled it out for filling and constructing the pull-apart deliciousness. The rolling was especially hard, for a couple reasons. First of all, I don’t really have a flat working area… and second of all, my working area was just a hair bigger than how big the dough was supposed to be rolled. Dilemma.

The entire kitchen... post-baking.

After to some strategic rolling, pulling, rotating and measuring, I smeared the filling over the dough with my pastry brush fingers, and then sliced it, stacked it and bunched it up into the bread pan.

pre-bake

It was looking kinda pathetic, yet still delicious, so I snapped some pictures and popped it into the oven. It wasn’t until 10 minutes into baking that I realized I had forgotten the all important second rise. Idiot.

Well… not bad for a first attempt. I’m thinking next time I’ll work on my kneading skills, remember to let it rise, and then perhaps add some pumpkiny goodness? Yummm…

before and after

The result was still gorgeous. Deep golden tips and a lovely cinnamon-raisin insides. I think it needed a bit more moisture, but it was amazing with a nice strong cup of coffee.

amazing...

Even with my minor screw-ups, Sean managed to enjoy half a loaf when he got home later.

yummm...

That boy might just be growing tired of my photographing his every meal. He was whining through most of my pictures, particularly when I moved outside to get better light. He was not impressed. Perhaps if he didn’t eat all of my baking in one sitting I wouldn’t have to take so many pictures of it in such a hurry. Just sayin…

Cinnamon-Raisin Pull-apart Bread

Adapted from Kohler Created

Ingredients

For the dough:
3/4 c. non-dairy milk
1 packet active yeast
3 c. white bread flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/4 c. raw sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
5 tbsp. fresh unsweetened applesauce

For the Filling:
1 tbsp. fresh unsweetened applesauce
4 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins
In a small saucepan, gently warm 3/4 cup non-dairy milk and sprinkle yeast in letting it dissolve. This takes about five minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and 1/4 salt. Add 5 tbsp applesauce and yeast mixture and stir to combine. Add in another 1/2 cup flour, stirring to combine with a spatula. Continue mixing until you have a sticky dough ball. It will take a while to all come together, but it will.

Place the dough in large, oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel. Place in a warm area and allow it to rest until doubled in size, or about 1 hour.

While the dough rises you can whisk together the brown sugar, cinnamon and applesauce for the filling. I found this filling very thick, and not very good for spreading, so I added a bit more applesauce, but this is probably where I would add pumpkin instead of applesauce, and maybe more than a tablespoon. Maybe a 1/4 c.(?)
Grease and flour a 9×5×3-inch loaf pan. Set both aside.

Sprinkle remaining flour on a flat surface and knead dough, kneading in most of the flour. Using a floured rolling pin, roll dough into a large thin rectangle, about 12-inches tall and 20-inches long, or roughly as large as you can make it, depending on the size of your petite kitchen.

Using your fingers, or ideally, a pastry brush, spread the filling across all the dough. Sprinkle with additional brown sugar if desired. Sprinkle raisins evenly across the dough and eat a lot of them.

Slice the dough vertically into strips and stack strips on top of one another and slice into strips again. Be sure they will fit into your baking pan. Layer into your greased pan and cover with a kitchen towel and allow to rise for 30-45 additional minutes. (don’t forget this part… idiot)

Preheat to 350 degrees F and put the baking rack in the center of the oven. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes until tips are deeply golden brown. Mine was a bit doughy in the center, so be sure the tips are quite dark which will ensure that it had been in for long enough.

Allow to cool for up to 30 minutes before removing from pan and onto a clean surface or serving dish. Serves 2 greedy people. just yank it in half.

mmm…

xxx

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October 9, 2009 · 7:52 pm

Granny Smith is shakin’ it.

Let’s be real for a minute. There are a couple of kinds of people I don’t trust. Perhaps my reasons have no real merit, perhaps these are quite nice and genuine people, but none-the-less I have never and will never trust the following people:

People who I don’t trust
A list composed by Caitlin Ann Hicks

1. People who do not make lists
2. People who do not travel
3. People who do not like pie.

I’m certain that life is better with these three things. No questions. We need not go into details, but lets just say they are important aspects of my life. For the sake of this piece of writing, if we can call it that, lets focus on the 3rd point. Pie. It takes a bold person to hate a pie. A bold person with bad taste-buds who I do not trust. So with that being said, let us move on to the pie du jour. But lucky for me, the ingredients will be written out in list form. Excellent.

The pie I made today was Apple. Some are a fan of the vanilla ice cream side dish… others enjoy a slice or two of cheddar cheese. Me? I could take it either way, or possibly hans solo. It don’t matter.

Apple, in my mind, is one of the easier pies. If only because there is not an abundance of liquid or juice. I find that with some berry pies you have to add a thickener to the filling, which can easily be forgotten, resulting in berry soup with scattered pieces of crust floating around. Still delicious, but not quite so appetizing. Apple however, has never had this problem. Add a dash of flour to the mix and you always get a good filling, tender and sweet.

Let us start here.

Granny Smith’s Apple Pie.
(I have no Granny Smith. But that’s the apple of choice here, So isn’t that just dandy…)

Crust:
2 c. of all-purpose flour
1 c. of shortening
1/2 c. of ice cold water (or more depending on the day-whatever it takes for the pie to form together)
couple shakes of salt

Filling:

3/4 c. of sugar
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Just a pinch or two of salt
Enough sliced Granny Smith Apples to fill the bottom crust and become a mountain that looks to you as if the top crust may not fit over top. Usually about 8 or 9 apples. In other words: lots.
2 tablespoons of butter cut into small bits

Making Pie crust is usually what drives people away from making pie in the first place. But fear not. I’ve heard 101 horror stories, but never experienced one for myself. You gots to show that crust whos boss. No fear. Cause it knows when your scared and that is when it strikes.

First, measure out about 3/4 c. of water and put that bad boy in the freezer– pronto. When your ready for it, it’ll be nice and cold. Next take a mixing bowl and measure out the flour and salt. Add the shortening in small cubes (makes sure its right from the fridge) and cut it in with a… pastry cutter? Why do I not know the name of this tool.

I’ve googled it and I’m like 90% sure that’s right, But then this raises the question of ‘what is the name of that tool that you ACTULLY use to cut pastry? You know the one that looks like mini Pizza cutter?’
To be invesigated. I’ll put that on my list.

Back to the crust:
So you cut in the shortening, a couple cubes at a time until you’ve used all the shortening and the consistency is that of large crumbs. Go get that icy cold water and add it gradually, about a 1/4 cup at a time, and mix up that pasty until it forms one big ball. From there, you split it in two and wrap each in plastic wrap and put ’em in the fridge for at least an hour. Sometimes, ’tis easier to do all this the night before baking, but that’s up to you.

The filling:

Preheat the oven to 400degrees.

Usually, I wash, core, and cut all the apples first and put them in a really big ziploc bag (sometimes two) and then add the rest of the ingredients to the bag. I find it way easier to get all the apples coated thoroughly in the sugar because how hard is it to stir sliced apples? REALLY hard. So this is the cooler shake and bake method.

So you slice up the apples and then simply add the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt to the bag. Shake it. Like a Polaroid picture. Don’t fuck this part up.

Rolling out the crust:

While keeping your poker face, take out your chilled crust, unwrap and place on a floured counter. Smash it down a bit, just a bit, and then start to roll it out with a floured rolling pin. Roll in one direction only, not back and forth. But you can switch your angle on the crust to make it roll out even, ya dig? After a couple rolls, lift it up to make sure it doesn’t stick the counter and then possibly re-flour if necessary. Roll so that it will fit the 9 inch pie pan.

Transfer the crust to the pan, pressing it in to fit nicely.

Now fill the crust with the apples. It willllll overflow. Sometimes I find it necessary, and charming, to place each apple slice into the crust in a circular formation, building it up as necessary. Though this can take a while, the apples do stay put better, and there are less awkward shapes on the top of the pie.

Dot the apples with the cubed butter.

Roll out the other crust and place it on top. Trim the edges to fit and then roll up the bottom crust and crimp the edges however you like. Cut a couple slits in the top for steam to escape and then bake that pie for about an hour, or until the crust is golden brown. You can brush the top with milk and sprinkle on some sugar for better browning capabilities.

Cool it on a window sill with your curtains blowing in the wind and then serve it warm, or chilled.

pie time.

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