Pie Season

Ah, Autumn.. the season of pie making has come upon us once again. For many years now (probably about 18), I’ve made a habit of having a friend over to bake a whack of pies to put in the freezer for the winter. I’d try to scrounge up free apples and we’d both bring some of the other ingredients, and we’d spend the day preparing apple pies (usually about 24!), the blanket ones (double crusted) and the French topping (the family favorite).

This year, I’ve felt busier than usual, somehow, but I did acquire a couple of boxes of apples, so a couple of weeks ago I decided to make a few pies for Thanksgiving and pop them in the freezer. A friend up the street (her middle name is ‘I’m game for anything’) came over spur-of-the-moment, helped me out,  and took a few pies home as well.

 

A few things I’ve learned about pie making over the years. If you don’t cook it thoroughly, it can taste pretty bad.  Half baked apples…blech. Just my opinion, of course. So, my rule of thumb is, if it doesn’t leak juices and make a mess in your oven, it’s not done.  Note, the escaping liquid in the above photo.

My second rule of thumb is, if you don’t want a stinky, smokey kitchen and a messy oven (accompanied by a possible oven fire), catch those juices! Hence, the foil pan I used today.

In order to bake a pie from frozen, here’s what I do.  Pop the frozen pie into a 450 degree oven, lower rack, for about 30 minutes (with foil around edges of pie).  I don’t even preheat the oven, I just put ‘er in there to begin thawing/baking. Turn the oven to 350, move the pie to a middle rack, and bake until the juices flow, removing the foil edges after about 20 minutes. The pie takes a lot longer to bake than the instructions in the cookbook I’ve read, but just keep checking, and things will be fine.

Hope YOU had a great Thanksgiving!

Oh, we’re enjoying pie tonight to celebrate a family birthday. With ice cream, of course.