Old Leaves: Apple Pie & Motherhood

From Thanksgiving 2008... How I'll miss my mother's reading and prayer this Thanksgiving...

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My daughter, Lillian, served a beautiful and delicious Apple Pie at our Thanksgiving get-together, and my wonderful Mother read the 100th Psalm, led us in a prayer of thanksgiving, then served us a wonderful meal of her dressing with turkey, ham, various and sundry cranberry sauces/relishes/compotes, mashed potatoes, delicious spiced carrots, cantaloupe, mac & cheese, and pecan pie, chocolate pie... I could go on. I am unsure of which of the wonderful cooks were involved in each of the dishes, but all were delicious. Here is Lillian with her pie:

And her recipe (adapted from a recipe at Allrecipes.com ):

Caramel Apple Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie (I just use the store-bought Pillsbury Pie Crusts. They're easy, and you can find them in the refrigerated section).
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup water (for a different taste, use orange juice instead of water).
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 5 or 6 apples (Granny Smiths are my favorite, but if you have some apples lying around, that'll work).
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• pinch o' cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, or any other spice you like.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, vanilla extract and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer. 
2. Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Add spices directly to the apples. Cover with a lattice work of crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off. 
3. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F. Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.