Easy as Pie

For my editorial photography class, our first assignment was to create a magazine cover using the theme "Lost in America." I knew I wanted to shoot food, but I didn't know how I was going to fit it into the theme. (This was the first time that I had ever been assigned the concept for an image so I was kind of resenting it.) 
Luckily I came up with an "American" food that wasn't burgers and fries- apple pie-but then I still had to figure out how I was going to communicate the idea of being "lost" without being cheesy. Then one day while walking home from school the phrase "lost in a good book" came to mind and I decided to run with it. So my image is about getting lost in a good book while eating apple pie in America. Maybe it is cheesy after all.

The recipe comes from my great-aunt Mabel, what an amazing woman she was!

Mabel's Apple Pie

ingredients:
unbaked, double crust pie shell
6 cups sliced Granny Smith apples*
2 T. orange juice
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. firmly packed light brown sugar
3 T. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
2 T. butter or margarine
Glaze:
1-2 tsp. milk
1 tsp. sugar
 Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400
2. For filling: toss apples and orange juice in large bowl. Combine the sugars, flour, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Toss with apples until coated. Spoon into unbaked crust, dot with butter.
3. Glaze: Brush top of unbaked crust with the milk, sprinkle with sugar. Make a few holes in the top to let the steam out. Cover top of pie with a sheet of tinfoil to prevent over browning. Bake pie at 400 for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake 20 minutes longer or until apples are tender and crust is golden brown. Cool pie to room temperature before serving.

*The original recipe calls for 6 cups sliced, peeled Jonathan apples. I wanted to use Granny Smith because I thought they were more attractive for the photos, and it ended up tasting good so you can choose which you'd rather use. I didn't peel them because I wanted to see what would happen and it was fine, but some people don't like the peels so that is up to your personal preference.

Tip: As far as pinching the pie crust, you can really do whatever you want, but I used the handle of a wooden spoon to make the indentations and I liked how it looked. 


Bon appétit!
Heather