Linda's Apple Pie

You can serve warm or cold. I love it warm or heated with a scoop of French Vanilla ice cream, or eaten with pieces of Cheddar cheese. Your gonna LOVE this pie as much as I do!

• Ready In: 1 hr 15 mins
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• Crust

• 2  cups flour
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 2⁄3 cup Crisco shortening, plus
• 2  tablespoons Crisco shortening
• 4 -6  tablespoons cold water, start off with 1 T. and add as needed
•  milk, for top of crust before baking

• Pie Filling

• 1⁄3-1⁄2 cup sugar, depending on the tartness of the apples
• 1⁄4 cup flour
• 1  teaspoon cinnamon
• 1⁄2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1⁄8 teaspoon salt
• 8  cups apples, peeled, and sliced thin (8 med. apples, I use Macintosh or Granny Smith)
• 3  tablespoons butter, chopped into small pieces

Directions

1. Crust:
2. Mix flour and salt.
3. Cut in shortening, using a pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through dough in opposite directions), until ingredients are the size of small peas.
4. Sprinkle 1 T. of COLD water at a time, tossing with your fingers until all the flour is moistened and the pastry comes off the sides of the bowl. A little more water can be added, if needed.
5. Roll pastry into a ball with your hands. Divide in 1/2. Shape into 2 flattened rounds on a lightly floured surface.
6. Wrap pastry in plastic wrap, and refrigerate about 1 hours until dough is firm and cold, yet pliable. This allows the Crisco to become slightly firm, which makes a flaky crust.
7. Preheat oven to 425.
8. Using a floured rolling pin, roll one piece of pastry out a little larger than the 9" pie plate. (I flip the pie plate over and measure 1" larger than pie plate, then cut all the way around to make my bottom crust.)
9. Repeat this step for top crust, fold in quarters, and set aside.
10. Fold bottom pastry into quarters so it's easier to handle, and place in pie plate. Carefully unfold, and pat down into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side of pie crust.
11. Pie Filling:
12. In a lg. bowl add sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Mix well.
13. Stir in apples until well mixed.
14. Spoon apple mixture into pie crust.
15. Cut butter into small pieces, and place pats all over the apples.
16. Trim edge of bottom crust 1/2" from the edge of the pie plate.
17. Put top crust on top of apples. Trim edge of pie crust to 1" from the edge of the pie plate.
18. Tuck top crust under bottom crust all the way around and press lightly as you go to seal edges.
19. Flute the edge of the pie all the way around using your pointer finger on your left hand and your thumb and pointer on your right hand to make a zig-zag edge, going all the way around the pie. You do this by putting your left hand on the inside edge of the pie crust and you right hand on the outside edge of the pie crust, and gently pushing your fingers together to shape pie crust, and flute the edge to make it look pretty and to tuck in the crust, so the juice doesn't spill out of the pie.
20. Using a sharp knife, cut 1" long slits in the top of your pie for the air to escape while baking.
21. Pour a little milk in a small cup or bowl. Dab your fingers into the milk and rub over the top of the pie crust. Don't get it too wet, but make sure you cover the pie crust with milk, so it will get shiny and pretty while baking.
22. Place pie on a cookie sheet so if the liquid in the pie spills out, it won't get all over your oven and make a mess.
23. Bake 30-35 minutes, then cover the edge of the pie with a 2" strip of aluminum foil, so it doesn't burn while baking.
24. Bake 10-15 minutes more, until your pie crust is brown and juices start coming out of the slits of the crust.