Annan & Apple Pie Filling

Meet Annan. She is one of my new best friends. She and I met about two months ago and it was a God- appointed meeting. Through a series of coffee dates, chats and a whirlwind of God's providence, Annan has just been hired to be a pastry chef at my ALL-TIME FAVORITE here in Nashville, The Frothy Monkey! (i mean really, could she BE any cuter? well hired, Roberto.) And would you believe who got to help her bake her VERY FIRST PIE?! :) :) Yours truly and my favorite baking friend, Nicole! (this woman is a genius)

And you know we had to have some moral support... my OTHER new beautiful, FABulous friend, Whitney, was our cheerleader all the way through.

So we began the pie baking journey! Annan wanted to do everything herself and only be stopped if we could see she was doing something horribly wrong... or if we knew any shortcuts. ;) She started mixing and mashing and fluffing her way through the dough... she discovered the magic power of a pastry cutter and learned how to properly hold an apple while slicing it without nicking her fingers.

Next thing we know she's got her dough out of the fridge and ready to be rolled, all with time for a little 10 minute wine break and a mid-pie baking Facebook status update. Only you, Annan. Then she quickly whipped together the filling, which I'll give you the recipe for because it's one of my FAVORITE, easy apple pie fillings.

Apple Pie Filling: adapted from one of the BEST books, "Cinnamon, Spice & Warm Apple Pie"

• 3 lbs. mixed apples, i.e. Jonagold, honey crisp, Golden Delicious, etc, peeled, cored and diced or sliced
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and toss well with your hands until all the apples are well coated. Use all excess mixture left in the bowl in your pie, as well. Use your favorite crust and bake for 50 minutes at 375 degrees (adjust time and temperature according to your crust).

And the pie is ready to go in!

Almost one hour later, the intoxicating smell of sugary apple goodness gets us out of our cozy seats by the fire and LOOK what greeted us at the oven door.

 A PERFECT, golden, flaky apple pie! Serve it up, girlfriend!

 The husbands were the taste testers and all gave her two thumbs up (except for James, of course, who you know, for some awful, sad reason, can't stand cooked fruit.. he had ice cream instead). Love you, honey. ;)

Lesson learned: Don't be afraid to bake your very first pie! It's actually really fun, especially if you have some people around to support you and have wine breaks with! And don't be afraid to mix and match recipes either. Nicole really wanted Annan to use her crust recipe so we went with it... I really wanted her to try my filling recipe and we did... and the pie was MAGICAL. So go ahead, find your mom's classic crust recipe and go wild!

Annan, I'm OH so proud of you... and Frothy friends, you've got a LOT of goodness headed your way in the coming days.

XOX

ps: these are the pie dishes I prefer