The Simple Goodness of Homemade Apple Pie

Is there anything much better than a homemade apple pie?  I mean, come on. Is there?  There is not much else in my book.  Homemade apple pies remind of watching my mother as a child make pie crust from scratch.  She was a more lovely crust crimper than I though.  ;)  I like to call my pie style "rustic".  
My mother used to take whatever pie crust was left over after making an apple or blackberry pie, roll it out, sprinkle it with sugar and cinnamon, and then slice it into strips.  She would then roll up the cinnamon scented strips like little cinnamon rolls and bake them up in a pie pan.  About 10 minutes later, we had a little appetizer before having a slice of pie.  (By the way, I do this with my left over pie crust too. ;) )

We got these beauties at the local farmers market last weekend.  They were just begging to be transformed into a beautiful pie.

I decided to try a new pie crust recipe that I had pinned weeks ago.  I mean it is called Never Fail Pie Crust.  You can't screw it up, right? ;) (Click here for the recipe from the Made blog.) I find something therapeutic in rolling the dough out.  

Baby girl even helped out in the pie making. :)

I kept the filling simple- about 7-8 medium sized apples, 1 cup of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, a few dashes of nutmeg, a couple tablespoons of flour, and a few squeezes of lemon juice.  

The pie was simple, absolute homemade perfection.  

My husband said that we pretty much have to buy apples at the farmers market every weekend now just so we can have more pie.  ;) This pie didn't last us for very long.  In fact, half of it was gone in the first evening.  In all fairness, my mother came over for dinner and she had a slice, and I gave her two slices to take home to my dad and my sister.  

Another habit I inherited from my mother- pie for breakfast the next morning.  

Best. Breakfast. Ever.

What is a recipe that you make that always stirs up a little nostalgia for you? :)

Sand Pail List 2012- Cross #7 Off the List!

Yes, the drive-in movie theater is becoming a dying family tradition around here.  And this is one of the very reasons that going to one with my family made it on our Sand Pail List for this summer.  The drive-in conjures up so much nostalgia for me.  I can't count how many times my parents had taken my sister and I to them when we were kids.  Of course, there was a lot more fanfare to them then- little kids rides and playgrounds, and fireworks after the final feature. I wanted to share this experience with my children before they all close...

This was the first time going to a drive-in for both my daughter and my son.  We arrived shortly before dusk, and set up our folding chairs.  We had packed cans of pop and boxes of our favorite movie candies, along with blankets in our tote.  

My son happily went to the drive-in's concession stand to bring back a large bucket of popcorn for us all.  

We settled in for the first feature of the evening, Brave.  Can I say what a cute movie?  

By the end of the movie, baby girl had been peacefully nursed to sleep.  (Yep, I nursed in public at the drive-in.  Not as if anyone could see us anyways in the dark. ;) )

The second movie of the evening was The Avengers.  A movie that we as a family had been looking forward to seeing.  By the middle of the movie though it had become cool enough that the blankets and hoodies no longer sufficed.  My husband and I along with the baby moved to the car.  My son decided to throw on another blanket and make himself comfortable sitting beside the car.

I am so glad that we were able to share this experience with our children this past weekend.  I hope we are able to make it to a few more before drive-in season is over.  Who knows if it will be open next summer... 

To read our Sand Pail List and my other updates on our list, click here.