The Night before Daylight Standard Time

I baked a pie. Not being a pie person, this is doubly curious. It is the end of October and we are in full fall. I had clipped a recipe a year ago from Bon Appétit for an “easy looking” pie. I thought to make it on a whim that happened to hit today. The Santa Ana’s are blowing moderate air temps our way.

My mother handed me down her old digital camera. Before you roll your eyes, know I have held off on the digitals for reason of quality. Nothing compares digitally with the color I get from film in the Canon AE-1 that was my grandfather’s, my brother’s, and now mine. (I bought it from Brian at some point for $25). My only complaint is lifestyle—the weight (heavy) and size (big). Today I put two and two together and learned how to download digital images to my computer. I will share my first images (due to technical difficulties, they will not post today). The compact digital does not replace my real camera, but will decorate the blog.

For those of you who wonder who Eva is, think “North by Northwest.” Recently viewed by Brian and Donn and Nancy. Amy, I encourage you to try Indian Pudding for your Thanksgiving feast. I will investigate that as well.

Eva Marie Saint’s Apple Pie
6 to 8 servings

The shortbread-like dough (no rolling required!) serves as both the crust and the crumbly topping for this homey pie.

1 1/2 lbs Pippin or Granny Smith apples (about 4 small), peeled, quartered, seeded, very thinly sliced
1 C cold water
3 T fresh lemon juice (I used an old lime)
1 C all purpose flour
1/2 C (1 stick) diced unsalted butter, room temperature
1 C sugar
2 t ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Place apples in large bowl. Add 1 cup cold water and lemon juice; let stand 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, place flour and butter in another large bowl. Using back of fork, mash together until moist clumps form. Add sugar and continue working with fork to incorporate (mixture will still be lumpy). Transfer 1 1/2 cups dough to prepared dish. Press evenly over bottom and halfway up sides of dish.
Drain apples well. Arrange in even layer on top of dough. Sprinkle with ground cinnamon. Sprinkle remaining dough bits over apples.
Bake pie until browned, juices bubble thickly, and apples are tender, about 1 hour. Transfer to rack; cool 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.