Monday, September 23, 2013

Perfect GF Apple Pie

So I had a bunch of apples left over from an event I did and after much internet surfing for ideas on what to do with a bunch of apples... I settled on Apple Pie! Seeing as yesterday September 22nd was the 1st day of Fall, it just seemed like the best way to bring in my favorite season!


Gluten Free Apple Pie
Crust: 
Pamela's Gluten Free Bread Mix
Follow the pie crust recipe on the side and do the half butter and half shortening combo for the best crust!

Filling:
10 firm tartly sweet apples (I used Galas because thats what I had left over and needed to use up but normally I would use Granny Smiths of Pink Ladies)
1/2 cup + 1 tbs white sugar 
2 tbs brown sugar
1/2-1 tsp Cinnamon (depending on how much you like it)
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
4-5 tsp Lemon Juice

1. Preheat Oven to 350. Follow instructions for Pie Crust, divide dough in 2 balls and refrigerate for 15 minutes (cover in plastic wrap.
2. Take one ball of dough and roll out between two sheets of parchment paper with large enough surface to cover pie dish. 
3. Grease pie dish with shortening and then sprinkle with gluten free flour (shake out excess). 
4. Then remove top sheet of parchment from dough and roll gently onto rolling pin to transfer crust over pie, unroll gently with bottom sheet on top so you can remove. Gently lift and place crust into dish and cut off excess around the edge. 


5. Poke fork holes around bottom of pie to crust stays flat.
6. Place pie crust in oven to pre-bake for 25 minutes. 
7. Using a potato peeler, remove skin from apples, cut out the core and slice apples into 1/4 thick slices. 
8. Sprinkle lemon juice over apples, use hands to mix apples gently so they dont break up. 
9. Mic sugars and cinnamon and nutmeg together, then sprinkle 1/4 of mixture over apples and mix with hands. 
10. Place apples covered with plastic wrap in refrigerator if crust isn't ready. When crust is pre baked, layer apples into pie crust- (do not just pour it in, layer the flat slices one of the other, this makes a nice thick and full filling that wont "fall" when your pie cools off after baking)


11. Every few layers- sprinkle the extra sugar you reserved over apples. About a tbsp per new layer. 
12. Pull out 2nd ball of dough and roll out to be large enough to cover surface. Using same method for bottom crust, gently roll up onto rolling pin and position over pie. 
13. Using a fork, seal edges of crust gently and cut 3 "leaf" shaped holes out of center of crust so steam can escape. 
14. Decorate crust with left over crust leaf cut outs or other shapes. 
15. Beat one egg and brush liberally over crust then immediately sprinkle large sugar grains (turbinado works well) all over pie for a nice crusty and sparkly finish!

16. Place pie in 350 oven and turn heat up to 375. Bake for 45 minutes, cook another 15 if crust still needs to brown some more. Let pie rest for at least 2 hours so can set up before cutting into.







Enjoy!

Friday, September 13, 2013

Early Mornings

                      
I love this time of day. Watching the world wake up. 
Today I went outside to find the clean scent that comes after rain and the slight crispness in the air that tells me Autumn is on its way. 
As the Morning Glories raised their delicate royal colored blossoms heaven ward, I did as well. Thanking my Beloved for the beautiful morning and the quiet to spend it with Him. 








Thursday, September 12, 2013

Camping...

Woah! It has been too long, that seems to be what I always say when starting a blog post but really, life has just been hectic. It has however been wonderful! There just hasn't been as much time for blogging lately as I'd like and other priorities have taken precedence. 

I'm going camping this weekend! Off to the river to run the Dad/son and Dad/daughter program I coordinate and play with a bunch of kids! While I have been stressed all week, I will admit, I am excited to finally get to see what makes this program so magical to all the families who sign up to be involved every year! Last weekend we had our big Family Fun Day to kick off the program and I had the pleasure of painting puppies, butterflies and pirate flags on a bunch of kiddo's faces! They were so cute! So even more so, I'm excited to see what a full on weekend with camping out will be like!

In the mean time though, camping makes me think of my favorite place... the Adirondacks and so, a few more photos from my quick trip to the families cottage earlier this summer!