Autumn Apples and Perfectly Easy Pie Crust
Story by Dinah Corley
Photography by Charlie Utz

As another perfect island summer approaches its’ inevitable end, I find myself confronted with all those tasks that are just plain sad; shutting off the outdoor shower, bringing in the deck furniture and (horror of horrors) putting on SOCKS! As usual I find consolation in making something sweet. Autumn in New England means that the “something” is apple pie because New England surely produces some of the most glorious apples to be found anywhere...

I grew up with two varieties of apples; the ubiquitous Red Delicious (a culinary misnomer if ever there was one) and a nameless green apple that grew on four huge trees in Eula Thompson’s yard two houses down from ours.(Four huge trees mind you, for one very old lady.) To this day I can’t abide Red Delicious apples (still the most popular variety with American consumers) and my mouth still waters when I think of those crisp, almost sour yet somehow also incredibly sweet, green apples just two houses down. Of course it could have something to do with the fact that the first was always in my lunch box and the second was incredibly hard to come by.

New England growers produce an astounding variety of apples including familiar names like Pippins, Jonathans, Romes and Macouns and more esoteric strains like Paula Reds, Honey Crisp and Northern Spy.

So after you have done all those seasonal chores you hate, bake yourself a consolation pie at another summer’s end.

As Easy as Pie
It is a shame that a genuine yearning for the great apple pie is often thwarted by an unreasonable fear of pastry making. I assure you it is far easier than programming a cell phone. The correct ingredients in the correct proportions along with a clear understanding of how to mix and roll out pastry will line your pie pans with success.

The Components and Their Proportions.
Flour, salt, fat and liquid are the basic components of pastry.

1. Over many years of experimentation with pastry flours, bread flours, granulated flours, self rising flours in various brands, I have concluded that unbleached all purpose flour consistently produces the best results.
2. The fat can be vegetable shortening, butter or lard. Vegetable shortening renders a dough that is easy manipulate, and a flakey end product. Butter makes a good flavored crust that is

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