I was going to whip up an apple pie today. The task proved to be more complicated than I anticipated. For one thing, I’ve never made an apple pie before. My whole pie experience consisted of making 2 pumpkin pies. That was back in 2022. I was inspired by the book, When Pies Fly and the fact I had a bumper crop of pumpkins. I had meant to bake more pies. I even bought 2 expensive pie pans from Lee Valley. My meaning didn’t pan out and so they’re been sitting in my basement cupboard since 2022.

Since I still have a batch of picked apples from my Sunday outings to Boffins Garden with my sister, I thought it was high time that I put those pie pans to use. Yesterday I went about to make the dough according to a recipe from When Pies Fly. When I went about to weigh my flour, the scale was dead. I had to recharge the batteries. A little delay was ok since I had to freeze the shortening and butter for 20 minutes. Then I had to chill some water. All these steps feels so complicated to one not familiar to pie making.

After I had everything mixed, shaped, wrapped and chilling in the fridge, I discovered that one pie crust means exactly that – one. You think when they write up a recipe for a pie crust, they should tell you to make 2, one for bottom and one for the top. I was in no mood to go through the messing around measuring flour, freezing this and that again. It was getting late in the evening. The second crust got mixed this morning and is chilling next to the first.

Then there’s the filling. The apples need to be peeled, cored and slice. It’s too late for today. Maybe I can tackle it tomorrow. And I might use the store bought apples. They’re bigger and might not need peeling. They’re Ambrosia apples I bought at the mall this morning. They’re beautiful and at a bargain price of $1/lb. Six of them only cost me $2 and some. On researching, I discovered that Ambrosias originated in Canada in the early 1990’s. They’re sweet so I might not need as much sugar.

Tomorrow is another day. I hope things will not be as complicated. I hope the pie thing and writing will go easier.