In the Fall of 2014 I went apple picking with a few friends at Velkommen til Eplegaarden, “da apple orchard vit da Norvegian exposure”. I’d like to say I picked a full bushel of Apples, but that was certainly not the case.

A bushel is defined as:

If that sounds like a lot of apples, it is. I picked approximately 50 apples, and that was maybe half a bushel of apples.

Lesson of the day: If anyone you know claims to have picked a bushel of apples, listen to the rest of their story with great suspicion, as a bushel of apples is a lot of apples.

So where were we: Apples. And lots of them. I eat a lot of fruit, but I defy anyone to eat 50-60 apples in the span of a week or two. You just can’t. Since I went picking with friends, many of my friends had an excess of apples as well and we decided to make apple pies.

My mom had recently sent me an information sheet on which apples make the best pies (below), so we happily read that while prepping the rest of my ingredients.

Apples for Apple Pie

Velkommen til Eplegaarden had plenty of Cortland’s and I found them to be quite delicious while picking. They allowed us to grab what we wanted off the trees, try each type of apple and even throw it back on the ground when we finished (it all goes back into the earth eventually!). This was great because I could figure out what I liked and didn’t like before taking them all home. The orchard had apples in abundance, they were quite literally growing on trees.

My friend Jackie’s grandma, who will lovingly be referred to as “GG” from here on out, had a recipe that I’ll pretend for purposes of this publication was passed down for countless generations.

If you look at and make the recipe (which I’ll post below) you’ll be amazed that a recipe so simple, can make something so delicious. The more I cook the more I’m convinced how unhealthy and unnecessary all the ingredients and preservatives put into processed foods are.

As a general rule of thumb, if you can’t spell it, you probably shouldn’t be putting it into your body. (I suppose you can use that as a motivator to expand your vocabulary as well).

Here are a few shots from my pie-making efforts!

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 2/3rd cup of white sugar
• 1/3rd brown sugar
• 1/4th tsp salt
• 1/3 tsp allspice
• 6-8 medium sized apples (or 4-5 large apples)
• 2 tbsp butter

Recipe

1. Mold pie crust to dish.
2. Peel skin off the apples.
3. Cut apple into slices.
4. Melt the butter in a pot on the stove and pour in the apples. Let sit on medium heat for five minutes.
5. Preheat the overn to 425 °F
6. Mix the sugar (both white & brown) with the nutmeg, cinnamon, flour, lemon juice, salt, allspice.
7. After the apples have cooked for five minutes, pour in spice mixture and simmer on stove for another five minutes.
8. Let the apples cool and then pour the apples into the pie pan with the crust in it. Cover top of pie with more dough. If you don’t have any dough, you can mix flour, white & brown sugar, and a generous amount of lemon juice until it is thick and clumpy.
9. Baste top of pie crust with egg yolk.
10. Bake for 20 mins at 425 °F.
11. Cook for 30 more mins at 350 °F.
12. Take it out and enjoy your tasty pie!