Prize Winning Apple Pie

I would like to say that I won a prize for making this pie, however I did not. Grandma Thompson's Prize-Winning Apple Pie is the official name of this recipe and was made by Brenda Hall from Collingwood. She won the prize, not me.

The making of this pie is very appropriately timed. There is a coolness in the morning breeze signaling the coming of Autumn and orchards are beckoning us to come 'pick your own'. In order to enjoy the abundance of fresh Ontario apples, I went to Chudleigh's Apple Farm to marvel at the numerous apple varieties they offer and to enjoy one of the last beautiful days of summer.

The apples that were available for picking the day I went were Ginger Gold and Wealthy. I had never heard of either and was excited to go out into the orchard to pick them straight off the tree. We were told that two apples equaled a pound and they sure were huge! Nothing beats eating a crisp, juicy apple off the tree - the Ginger Gold was gorgeous and I picked a bagful of Wealthy apples to take home and bake with.

I decided to try a different apple pie recipe from my usual one. The crust called for sour cream and lard. As I don't have lard on hand, I replaced it with all vegetable shortening. I don't know how much of a difference this had on the final product, but I find that you can make a great crust using butter and shortening. The only mistake I made was slicing my apples too thinly. Next time I'll make them thicker so that they don't make the filling all mushy. Overall, the pie was enjoyable - the crust was nice and the filling was spiced perfectly.

If you have the opportunity to pick your own apples I highly suggest you do! It's lots of fun for everyone and if you get hungry, no problem, eat an apple. Just watch out for all those pesky bees - they're in apple heaven.

Recipe: Prize Winning Apple Pie