Horray for Pies

(First Peach Kuchen, it turned out great but a little to thick)

This weekend we haven't done much of anything. We decided to rent an old movie again and we watched "A Street Car Named Desire." I thought the movie reminded me of a soap opera and it just dragged on and on. But, now I can say that I have seen it and tell other people not to rent it.

The cats have been going outside more and more. They practically beg to go outside and play. I forgot that the cats were outside while cleaning and I opened the patio door to go find Victoria and she was running back to the house from the sidewalk! I couldn't believe that she went that far! I'm proud of both cats actually getting some courage to explore but I guess I better be outside watching them from now on.

Also, when I came home from work and brian was leaving the house to get some grocery's, Victoria and I were having a blast playing with a pin-pon ball on the kitchen floor, next to the patio door. The patio door was closed and I happened to notice something in the corner of my eye walk by the door. There is Gingham, sitting with her head tilted and looking at me from outside. Her expression "Ummm, I think he forgot me and closed the door, are you going to let me back in?" Poor kitty, Brian let her out sometime ago or she likes to sneek out and she's so quick. So, he either forgot about her, or didn't know she was outside and just closed the door. I was laughing so hard.

Today we are going to a friends house for a BBQ and I made a pie to bring over. I just talked to Laurie the other day and she mentioned Apple Pie. Ooooh, that sounded good. I mentioned it to brian and he loooves Apple pie. So I had to make one. I made everything from scratch and I found a fresh apple pie filling that is really good. I figured if I'm making pies, I might as well try Kuchen. So I also made two Peach Kuchen's and they turned out great! So everyone will have to tell me their favorite type of Kuchen's and I will make some for Christmas to bring home. I really like peach and cheese Kuchen but let me know if there's any other's that everyone would like.

Apple Pie

Crust:

3 Cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 Cups veg. shortening

1 tsp. salt

1 lrg. egg

1 T. vinegar

5 T. water

Mix together flour and salt. Cut in shortening until crumbly. Mix egg, vinegar and water in a cup. Add to flour mixture. Mix together until forms a ball.

~This crust recipe makes alot. So take a little over half of the dough to roll out for the bottom then the rest I roll out for the top piece of the pie. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on the top. Cut a few small slits on the top piece for steam.

~If you still have some left over dough from trimming the edges, roll it out and make a fancy top with cookie cutters. Or roll out the dough thin and flat and sprinkle alot of cinnamon and sugar on top and bake until golden brown (good snack).

Filling:

6 Cups sliced apples

1 cup sugar

2 T. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

3 T. butter/margarine (melted)

In a bowl, combine the entire mixture. Put apples in pie pan and pour mixture over apples. Cover with top crust. Trim and seal edges. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 mintues, then reduce heat to 350 degrees . Bake for about 45 minutes, until nicely brown and the juice has come up and bubbled.

~ You can also use 1/2 cup honey instead of the one cup sugar but I didn't try it yet.