Homemade Apple Pie

 I actually made this recipe last October and posted it on my other blog, but I thought I could transfer it over here with my other scrumptious recipes.

Apple Pie

Pastry:
2 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons shortening
4 to 6 tablespoons cold water

Filling:
1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples (8 medium)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1.In medium bowl, mix 2 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until particles are size of small peas. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons more water can be added if necessary).

2.Gather pastry into a ball. Divide in half; shape into 2 flattened rounds on lightly floured surface. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate about 45 minutes or until dough is firm and cold, yet pliable. This allows the shortening to become slightly firm, which helps make the baked pastry more flaky. If refrigerated longer, let pastry soften slightly before rolling.

3.Heat oven to 425°F. With floured rolling pin, roll one pastry round into round 2 inches larger than upside-down 9-inch glass pie plate. Fold pastry into fourths; place in pie plate. Unfold and ease into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side.

4.In large bowl, mix sugar, 1/4 cup flour, the cinnamon, nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Stir in apples until well mixed. Spoon into pastry-lined pie plate. Cut butter into small pieces; sprinkle over filling. Trim overhanging edge of pastry 1/2 inch from rim of plate.

5.Roll other round of pastry into 10-inch round. Fold into fourths and cut slits so steam can escape. Unfold top pastry over filling; trim overhanging edge 1 inch from rim of plate. Fold and roll top edge under lower edge, pressing on rim to seal; flute as desired. Cover edge with 2- to 3-inch strip of foil to prevent excessive browning.

6.Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust, removing foil for last 15 minutes of baking. Serve warm if desired.

Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chips

Adam and I went to Utah last weekend and stayed with my Grandma Johnson. She made something like this and it was way yummy. She didn't give me an exact recipe, but I think it was like the one below. 

Fruit Salsa

10 servings

2 kiwis, peeled and diced

2 apples - peeled, cored

and diced

raspberries

strawberries, sliced

grapes, cut in half

(And any other fruit you may want in it)

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Cinnamon Chips

10 (10 inch) flour tortillas

butter

2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar

In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, apples, raspberries, strawberries, white sugar, and brown sugar. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Spread butter on each side of each flour tortilla. Cut into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle wedges with desired amount of cinnamon sugar. I would spray the cookie sheet with baking spray just in case.

Bake in the preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture.

Snickers Salad

Snickers Salad

4 green apples
3 Snickers Candy Bar (or more!)
2 Cool Whip
1 1/2 cups vanilla yogurt (I have seen it with strawberry yogurt too)

Fold yogurt into Cool Whip. Cut apples and snickers into bite size pieces.  Set some apple pieces and snicker pieces aside to sprinkle on top at the end. Fold remaining pieces into creamy mixture. Sprinkle the extra apple and snickers pieces on top so that it looks nice. Let it sit in the fridge for a while.