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I don’t know about you, but winter is one of my favorite seasons for cooking and baking pies.  Pies of all sorts:  sweet pies and tarts, savory pies and tarts, quiches, hand-held turnovers or pasties, vol-au-vents, pissaladiere, pithivier, tourtiere, cobblers and crumbles – with crusts of every kind, shape and texture.

There is something very soothing about assembling a pie.  Deciding though as to what kind to make is quite another story.  Should it be homemade or ready-made?  Do we want a galette, a bundle, a tartlet, a strudel, a triangle? Should we make it deep-dish, free-form or crustless?  Low fat?  Is it filo or Phyllo? And is Shepherd’s Pie really a pie?

If we go the savory route, there is always the traditional use of pastry to top off a delicious smooth and creamy chicken pot pie chuck full of winter friendly root vegetables as is the mouth-wateringly tempting wrapping of Brie and a medley of mushrooms in sheets of buttery Phyllo.  If we go the sweet route, there is always the ever-popular Lemon Meringue pie, cherry strudel, or Baklava even.

Celebrate National Pie Day with No-Peel Apple Pie; old-fashioned, but easier!

I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking let’s keep this simple.  Good old-fashioned apple pie will do it any day of the year – and my motto is the easier the better!  So, here is a recipe for a “No-Peel Apple Pie” that I discovered about 20 years ago in a holiday insert of Better Homes & Gardens.  When you make No-Peel Apple Pie, you can skip the apple-peeling step.  Select apple varieties with tender skins like Golden Delicious, Jonagold, or Jonathan and use a ready-made piecrust and voila! Old-fashioned, but easier apple pie!

INGREDIENTS:

 1- 15-ounce package folded refrigerated unbaked piecrust (2 crusts)

6 large apples

½ cup water

2 TBS lemon juice

½ cup sugar

2 TBS all-purpose flour

1½ TSP apple pie spice

Whipping cream or milk

Coarse and/or granulated sugar

Whipped cream (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

_ Let piecrusts stand at room temperature according to package directions.

Meanwhile, core and slice unpeeled apples (you should have about 8 cups).

Combine apples with water and lemon juice in a large mixing bowl; toss to coat.

_ For filling, stir together ½ cup sugar, flour, and spice in a large mixing bowl.

Drain apples well; add to sugar mixture and toss gently to coat.  Set aside.

_ Unfold one piecrust. Place on lightly floured surface.  Unfold the second crust and place on top of the first.  Roll the two crusts together from center to edge into a 14-inch circle.  Ease the pastry into a 9-inch pie plate, letting crust hang over the edge.

_ Spoon apple filling into the pastry-lined pie plate.  Fold the pastry up and over the filling, pleating the pastry to fit.  Brush crust with whipping cream or milk.  Sprinkle the pie with coarse and/or granulated sugar.  Cover the edge of the pie with foil to prevent overbrowning.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.  Remove foil.  Bake about 30 minutes more or till crust is golden.  Cool slightly on a wire rack before serving.  Serve pie while warm with whipped cream, if desired.

Makes 8 servings.