My little apple trees popped with blossoms last week, bringing with 
them a flutter of memories!
My mom grew up during the depression and married my dad during WWII, and though as a Navy pilot he provided well, I remember meals for our family of six as well-balanced yet thrifty.
Occasionally, dinner was beanie-weenie, sloppy joe’s, or a pancake supper. As kids, we looked forward to those nights! But it’s memories of her baking that makes my mouth water and long for her warm treats from the oven.
And one of my favorites was her luscious French apple pie!
The brown sugar and butter melt down and crown the apple filling while wafts of cinnamon draw family and friends to the kitchen table in hopes of the first warm slice.
Mom passed away in 2005. The night she died, I laid down on the couch to rest near her as my dad slept in the next room. As I started to doze, I realized I couldn’t hear the rattle of her breath. I rose to check on her and I was certain she was not breathing. I called for my dad, who flew out of his bed and rushed to her side. He bent to put his cheek to her lips and felt a small puff of breath. He shot me a concerned, almost stern look. “She’s breathing,” he said. I felt terrible for causing him such pain. But even as he said the words, he realized he didn’t see her chest rise or fall. He lowered his cheek to her mouth once again. “No, she’s not.” My mom had passed from this world to her Heavenly home. Dad and I were crying as I told him, “It’s like she saved her last breath for you, Dad. That last puff on your cheek was her last kiss.”
Mom waits for us in Heaven now, but I have her memories and one of my favorites is her baking the famous apple pies. Her baking genes undoubtedly came from the Horton’s. Born Helen Jean Horton, her 8th great-grandfather, Barnabas Horton, is listed as a baker in records from The Southold Historical Society in Long Island.
MOM’S APPLE PIE
Ingredients: 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon*, dash of salt, 6 medium apples, pared and thinly sliced*.
Heat oven to 425 degrees.
Prepare pastry (see below), set aside.
Mix sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Stir in apples.** Turn into the pastry-lined pie plate.
Combine 1 cup all-purpose flour with 1/2 cup firm butter and 1/2 cup packed brown sugar until crumbly. Carefully pat topping over filled pie crust and bake for 50 minutes, cover with foil the last 10 minutes. Best served warm.
Pastry for 10″ pie: 1 1/3 cups flour, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 cup shortening, 3 to 4 T. icy cold water
Measure flour and salt into the bowl. Cut in shortening thoroughly. Sprinkle in water, one tablespoon at a time, mixing until moistened and the dough almost cleans side of bow. Add more if needed, but less is better. Gather dough into a ball and then flatten into a round on lightly floured surface. Roll out, fold in half and ease into pie plate. Using both hands, form scallops around your pointer finger.
Mom’s Tips: *1 using recipe for 10″ pie gives you the dough you need to form a pretty scallop *2 one teaspoon of cinnamon is better than the 1/2 . ** a mix of apples is yummiest: try Yellow Delicious with Grannies and use your hands when mixing – our ancestors did!
One more tip Mom didn’t know: If you have a lot of apples (hoping to this fall!) Slice the apples and mix with sugar and spices, then put in a large freezer baggy and freeze. When you are ready to bake, just pull one out of freezer, defrost and then put into your prepared pie crust!
Mom’s English ancestors missed their apples when they sailed to the New World. I’ll share more about this on Rebecca’s Ramblings this Wednesday. I hope you’ll join me!