No Recipe Baking? Yes you can!

It's my one week anniversary and yes, I'm still feeling a little loved-up and in the bubble. I can't help it! Whenever I feel this happy and homey and surrounded with happy, I of course want to show that in the kitchen. What better way on the eve of October then to bake a pie? Autumn is apple season and the markets are loaded with beautiful apple varieties. Honey crisp is one of the first fall varieties of apples available in Iowa. If you've never had this type before, you need to find some. They are the perfect fresh eating apple. Juicy and sweet, the skin is a blushing red and yellow. They can be pretty big too. Also readily available right now are Granny Smith apples, the perfect pie apple.

Now we all know that generally speaking, baking is an exact science and it's not easy to "wing it." Finding the right balance of dry to liquid ingredients, the right leavening agent, the perfect balance of sugar and tart, these take a carefully followed recipe. However....... I am going to show you how to make a delicious, juicy and just right sweet apple pie from fresh apples- no gross sloppy canned pie filling here- and flaky crust. If you want, you can cheat and buy a pre-made pie crust- which honestly, I do quite a lot of times, or you can whip up a super fast crust if you're good at eyeballing ingredients. Spoon about 2 cups flour into a bowl and add a good pinch of salt. Grab a stick of cold butter and slice most of it, about 2/3 of the stick, into pats right into the flour. Cut it in with a fork until it looks like fine crumbs then toss with a couple tablespoons ice water just until the mixture holds together. Gather into a ball- DON'T KNEAD it, wrap in plastic and chill about an hour before cutting in two and rolling out for your pie.

Fruit pies are a favorite and are so much easier to make than you think! You don't need all the goo and saucy stuff common in prepared pie fillings, in fact that usually makes a soggy pie. Yuck. Fresh fruit needs only a few adjustments to be perfect in pies- a little sugar, a pinch of salt, a splash of lemon to make everything taste awesome, sometimes a little spice like cinnamon, ginger, gloves, and some kind of thickener. I prefer using flour or cornstarch in my fruit pies. I use flour for the less juicy fruits and cornstarch for berries and very ripe peaches. Once you have this basic recipe figured out, you can whip up a homemade fruit pie any time just off the top of your head!

For the filling you want 4 or 5 fresh apples. Granny Smith apples make the best apple pie, trust me on this. We are making an 8 inch pie so 4 to 5 apples is plenty. Grab a large bowl, peel, core and slice the apples into bite sized pieces. Add about a tablespoon of lemon juice, some sugar to taste (I keep a tablespoon in my sugar canister and I just spooned 4 or 5 heaping tablespoons into the bowl), a few dashes of cinnamon and any other spices you like- nutmeg and ginger go great with apple, and a bit of flour. Experience tells me a couple tablespoons is plenty for apples. Toss it all together to mix it thoroughly.

Roll out your pastry, and fit the bottom into an eight inch pie pan. Pile the fruit in the crust and dot with butter all over. Roll out and fix the top crust on top, seal the edges, crimp and flute. Decorate your pie however you like, and be sure to cut some vents in the top crust. You can do a traditional full top crust or something fancy like lattice or pastry cut outs. Brush the pastry with milk and sprinkle with additional sugar for a sparkly crisp crust, if you like. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and slide that pie into the hot oven. Bake for 50 minutes until the crust s golden brown and apples are tender. Let cool slightly before serving with whipped cream or ice cream.

Wasn't that simple? And just think, you did it without following a written recipe! Like I said, this basic fruit pie recipe works great with just about any fruit. Apples and pears need just a couple tablespoons of flour to thicken the juices, but some berries will need more, or use about the same amount of cornstarch, which is roughly twice the thickening power. Adjust your sugar as needed- if working with something really tart like rhubarb or gooseberries, you want to bump up that sugar a bit. Don't be afraid to experiment and have fun!

Apple Pie on a Stick? Yes!!

This is a post from City Girl Country Life, centering around the Iowa State Fair, and food on a stick. The blog City Girl Country Life is heading into retirement so many of the recipes originally shared there will make an appearance here over the next several months. This story was originally published in August, 2015.

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It's that time of year again. The Iowa State Fair kicks off in two days with the annual parade through downtown, and ten days of  rides, shows, food, competitions, concerts, food, tractor pulls, lemonade, food, baby animals, arts and crafts, food, free stuff, contests and of course- food! The Iowa State Fair is the once a year event for many of us to throw good eating habits out the window and have that fried-something-naughty-on-a-stick. You can't eat that everyday but once a year, you just have to!

The first ever Iowa State Fair was held in 1854, a mere eight years after being granted statehood.  It was quite an event for the time, admission was 25 cents. Women on horseback was the entertainment highlight of that first fair. Ten women participated, all competing for a gold watch as the prize. The fair moved around Iowa several times before finally landing at it permanent home in Des Moines in 1879. In 1886 the current location of the fairgrounds was purchased, and the rest is history.

Our great state fair is well known for many things, from crashing locomotives for entertainment, to the famous Butter Cow, and most notably, for being the inspiration for Rodgers and Hammerstein's Tony Award-nominated musical State Fair, the story of the Frake family and their Iowa State Fair experiences in 1946.

Now, without a doubt, when we talk about the state fair, we usually don't talk about the historical stuff (other than the musical, because most Iowans think that is pretty cool actually), we talk about the FOOD. Starting in the early days with humble lemonade and popcorn, to today's fair with more vendors than I can count, selling everything from corn dogs, to hot beef sundaes (yes, it's a thing) to deep fried butter on a stick (yes....that is also a thing). Deep fried, on a stick and hugely oversized- think smoked turkey legs- is the Special of The Day at the fair. Every year several new signature items are added to the food lineup. This year they include the Bacon Brisket Bomb, Corn in a Cup, and fried Apple Pie on a Stick. 

I used regular bamboo skewers you can find in any kitchen

store, but I cut them in half.

Of course, our office loves to have food days. We have one for loads of occasions and certainly State Fair Food sounds like an amazing chance to whip up something utterly naughty, maybe fried, maybe on a stick even..... and share it. So the committee that plans events sent out an email last week announcing a State Fair Food Day with prizes in several categories. My brain immediately started planning......and after much internal debate settled on Apple Pie on a Stick. I have heard that the fair's apple pie on a stick is simply apple wedges, threaded on a skewer, then dipped in funnel cake batter and fried. Well......I can do better than that!! Let's make MY version!

Apple Pie on a Stick With Bourbon Cinnamon Glaze

(makes about 36)

2-3 Granny Smith apples

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 batches double crust pastry (3 packages store-bought)

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon Bourbon

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon allspice

milk

bamboo skewers

Prepare your pastry. If using the store bought rolled up kind (and hey I did!!) let it rest at room temp while getting the apples ready.

Peel, core and chop the apples into small cubes. The "pies" are small so you need tiny pieces of apple. Place apples in a medium bowl. Sprinkle the granulated sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, allspice and ginger over. Toss well to evenly coat the apples with the mixture. Set aside.

I love the flavor of cinnamon and allspice with apples, so I

went pretty heavy handed with spices. You can adjust to suit

your taste, same with the sugar.

Roll out (or unroll) the pastry and cut into circles using a biscuit cutter, cookie cutter or, as I did, the ring from a canning jar- that is the perfect size. Working with one pie at a time, use your fingers to moisten one side of a pastry circle. Press a skewer lightly into the pastry.

A canning jar ring made the perfect cutter. I moistened the

pastry circle with water and lightly pressed the skewer into

the dough so it would be pretty secure.

Spoon on about a tablespoon of the apple filling into the middle. 

Top with a second pastry circle and press the edges to seal. Crimp however you like, as fancy as you like, and cut a couple slits in the top to allow stem to escape.

Place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

If you like, you can brush them with milk and sprinkle with

sugar before baking. I did not, since I was adding a glaze.

I made a batch at a time, working on the next dozen while one was in the oven.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Remove to a rack to cool.

Aren't they pretty?

In a small bowl combine the powdered sugar, bourbon, vanilla, spices and enough milk to make the glaze a drizzling consistency. Drizzle over the pies (on a rack over the cookie sheet is good) and allow the glaze to dry before storing loosely covered.

I was a little disappointed that the food day ended up being cancelled because not many people were able to participate. That's not unusual this time of year- it's back to school, fair time, families are busy with kids, sports, school supplies, vacations and so on. Sadly that meant no prizes and no voting, but I did get a quality coupon that's redeemable for paid time off as a thank you for participating, so I was happy. All my team members said I would have won Best Food on a Stick so I went home with very few leftovers and feeling pretty good!!