Sweetie Pie

This is our first apple pie of the season.

I am only going to make a few of these because really, how much pie can one family eat?

My real plan is to make and freeze apple pie filling so we can have pie whenever we want over the next year. Seems like a good way to use up those apples, right?

I'm not using an exact recipe but this is generally how I've been making my filling.

Melt a few tablespoons of butter in a pan. Add 3 cups or so of peeled, cored and sliced apples. Sprinkle with sugar (I have been using a combination of granulated white sugar and brown sugar). Add cinnamon, nutmeg and salt based on your own preference for these things. I also add a very little bit of apple cider. Cook until the apples are tender and then freeze in individual batches.

I have to confess that I use Trader Joe's frozen pie crusts (the purists among you cringe, no doubt). I am a big fan of these easy-to-use and tasty crusts (plus I don't even have time to shower on a regular basis these days so learning to make homemade crust is not high on my list of priorities).

Next: turnovers and maybe a strudel.