“Apple pie”-- A Slice of Thanksgiving

Children without home

I am curious how many of you have ever been on street on Thanksgiving's night? If you've never experienced it, let me tell you. It's just like what you think it should be like. It's so empty, and it feels dimmer without traffic lights. This is the holiday feeling for children without home. Don't get me wrong, it's really a happy kind of feeling. Another thing that I missed was the motivation of marking off all assignments by the holiday cause something fun was planned. It's weird to call myself child, but whenever there's a holiday for family reunion, it usually just remind myself of being loved as a child, once. Okay, I have deal with the part that is a little sad, but that's all, the remained were exciting! It's another day that makes overeating reasonable!

Something like this, still lighted, but darker than normal.

Last year, we made a reasonable amount of research and a reasonable amount of output. 

We watched Bon Appetite's Thanksgivings series, and we became so inspired. We dry-brined a Turkey for a whole day, following Brad and Andy's process of making a roasted turkey, served with gravy and cranberry sauce. We also made Molly and Carla's Crispy mashed potatoes (it was epic!). I made flan as dessert and roasted brussel sprouts as the veggie dish. Those were great memories, and I was happy that I had experience it once. 

Picture for last year's Thanksgivings table.
A simplified version of typical Thanksgiving dinner, but it's definitely a feast.

This year, we all felt lazy. The maximum output we could make is ... a pie, maybe?

The three pies - Apple, Pecan, and Pumpkin

We started thinking about it a week ago, but not until the last minute did we actually decided to make one. 

A pumpkin pie would probably amend for the disappointment when we find that the microwaved carved-out chunks of Jack-o'-lanterns did not turn out tasty though we only paid for $3 for each head of them. However, the year before I have tried store bought pumpkin pie. It was not delicious. I know it's going to be so much better if we make it ourselves, but maybe we just felt tired of pumpkins already. 

Pecan pie, Claire said it's her favorite if I remembered it correctly. It is difficult for me to think about how is its flavor like aside from nuttiness and pecan-y. How could that be different from eating a mouthful of pecans? Frankly, this option just happened to slip my mind, and I am trying to think of an excuse of not making it (don't hate me, pecan pie lovers!). I would love to try it if I ever make it or see it in store. 

Apple Pie - Granny Smith Apple

Granny Smith's Apple. We say it is "green apple", as it is.

We did not choose Apple pie as simple as because it's not the previous two. We looked up recipes on line and we see this "Granny Smith Apple" that is recommended as the apple for apple pie. This Apple-green apple is pretty common in markets, but strangely, we never thought of trying any. 

Why Granny Smith Apple? After tasting it raw, I think I know why it's reserved for apple pie. It has a sharp acidity to its delightful fragrance and rather light sweetness, so maybe that's why it's a great idea to eat it coated with a lot of syrup. It's texture is relatively firm and less juicy, so it wouldn't lose it's shape or soak the pie shell after being baked. 

Recipe and Tips to make a pretty wonderful Apple pie

We used Trader Joe's gluten free 9'' pie shell and its frozen pie crust for blanketing the top. Grandma Ople's Recipe is the recipe we used. The instructions and the ingredients used totally nailed it, except that I made merely a few adjustments:

1. The Trader Joe's pie shell was too shallow to hold all 8 apples, but it can be split into two (4 apples each, and luckily the pie shell is sold as two in a pack). I think they have perfect size for apple pies. 

2. Mix the sugar syrup with the apple slices well before putting them in the pie shell. 

3. Leave the pie crust clean from syrup (or it's going to turn black before the apples are cooked through), instead, brush a layer of egg wash onto the surface of the pie crust before it goes into the oven. 

4. Follow all other instructions, and remember to check on it when it's near to done.

5. LET IT SIT! BE PATIENT. This is the most important of all steps! after it is out, let it sit for at least half an hour in the fridge until the syrup sits still (it would probably take at least another hour in room temp. I let it sat overnight in the fridge:). Otherwise, it is going to fall apart as soon as you think you've cut out a beautiful piece.

Here is my beautiful Apple pie!
The darker patches are resulted from the over-caramelization of syrup.
It's not burnt, but it doesn't look as good as egg-washed parts.