Apple Pie

I'm a little behind in my blogging, but I do have some pictures from our Thanksgiving vacation to L.A. that I want to share. We left Reno at 3 a.m. Thursday morning, and arrived in Bishop, CA at about 6:30 just in time for breakfast at the famous Erick Schat's Bakkery. Here is a picture of the front:



And a picture from the parking lot- you can see the blue roof a little better, and the "Schat's Mobile":



And finally, a picture of the boys getting their sugar high from the cinnamon rolls and dounuts they had for breakfast...



We stayed with Kevin's Aunt Sandee and Uncle Mike in Costa Mesa, and Sierra (their daughter) requested an apple pie. So I volunteered because I've been looking for a reason to try out Turi's recipe he posted on his blog, plus they had this great apple corer/peeler/slicer that was way too much fun (and super fast) to use. But to make things interesting, Uncle Mike walked in and poured himself a whiskey and Coke, so, in the spirit of baking and friendship (and getting really drunk really fast), I poured myself one too! Accidentally filled my cup half way though, and if you look at the pictures as I was baking, you can see my progress. Here is the first picture of the apples after I had sauteed them in butter, and set them on a pan to cool. (Jack and Coke to the left.)



While that was cooling, I unrolled a pre-made pie crust and sliced an extra one into long strips for the lattice work on the top. (Notice the two loaves of Schat's bread at the top left?)



Skipping ahead, here is a pic of the pie filled, latticed, trimmed. I deviated from the recipe slightly (sorry Turi) and brushed the top with egg white and sprinkled white sugar- a suggestion I found in the Joy of Cooking. (Glass only half full at this point, alcohol settling into my blood stream nicely by now- and a good thing I had the pie done as well! :)



And finally, the finished product (and an empty glass!) I had to pull it out before the timer went off (baked only about 38 minutes) because the top was getting dark. Turned out perfect! Pie was gone before we left for Reno...



I had to take a nap after the pie was done, but I did get up and make a tortilla soup recipe for dinner that has been growing in popularity of late~