Homemade Apple Pie

Dave has been asking for months for me to make him an apple pie, and for various reasons I just never did it. Today, I decided I'd make him that pie since we're having company. I mean, come on. What's more impressive to company than a homemade pie?

INGREDIENTS
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie (Recipe included below)
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Dash of cinnamon
8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced (I used 5 large apples)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer for 5 minutes.


2. Place the bottom crust in your pie plate. Toss apples with sugar and butter liquid and place in pie plate, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work of crust or one full crust. Brush crust with egg wash or melted butter.


3. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.

Pie Crust

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold water

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix shortening, flour, and salt together with a fork or a pastry blender until very crumbly. Add as much water as needed to hold together, and mix lightly with a fork. To double this recipe, use 1 cup shortening, 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 cup cold water.


2. Kneed only to combine, one crust at a time, on a floured pastry cloth, to about an inch larger than pie plate. Fold carefully in half. Lift to pie plate, and unfold. Fit into pan. For a single-crust pie, trim with a small knife to about 1/2 inch beyond rim. Fold up, and pinch so edge of pie is raised from rim. For a two-crust pie, trim bottom crust to edge of rim, fill, and top with crust about 1/2 inch larger than rim. Tuck top crust under bottom along rim. Seal with floured fork.