FIAR: How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World

This week in our Five in a Row series, we studied the book How to Make and Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman. 

It was the perfect week to study this book because the temperatures began to cool as the changing of seasons is upon us. I LOVE fall!! It is my favorite season and I completely agree with George Eliot in his quote about fall: "Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."

This was a cute book that we all enjoyed!!  An apple pie is easy to make...if the market is open. But if the market is closed, the world becomes your grocery store. This deliciously silly recipe for apple pie takes readers around the globe to gather ingredients. First hop a steamboat to Italy for the finest semolina wheat. Take a train ride to France for a chicken for elegant eggs.  Then get any way you can to Sri Lanka for cinnamon.  Next, hitch a ride to England and hijack a cow for the freshest possible milk. Take a banana boat to Jamacia for some sugar, and, oh yes! Don't forget to go apple picking in Vermont!  It sounds like my kind of way to make an apple pie!  I love to travel.

We took a trip to the Apple Orchard this week.  However, it didn't go as planned.  I will spare all the details, but I may or may not have had an uncharactersitic (for me) confrontation with a not-so-friendly older woman.   Julie got a kick out of seeing me lose it.  We didn't end up getting to take the tour as we had planned, but we still had a great time and enjoyed a beautiful day! 

 

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Apples, Apples, Apples!

Fall puts me in the mood to cook (it's about the only time of the year).  Of course, since our whole book was about making an apple pie, we had to make one.  It was my first pie I have ever made.  It was family approved, so we'll try that one again.

The boys helped me.  They love to help in the kitchen.

 

 

Here's the recipe we used:

 

APPLE PIE

6 tbs unsalted butter

1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 pinch of salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup water

1 15 oz pkg double crust ready-to-use pie crust

4 large red apples

 

1.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2.  Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in white sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and  

     water. 

3.  Peel, and slice apples.

4.  Unroll pie crusts, press one into a 9-inch pie pan.  Put apples in pie pan.  Unroll the second crust   

     and cut into strips.  Weave the strips over the apples.   Crimp crust together.

5.  Spoon caramel sauce over pie, letting it drizzle through the pie. 

6.  Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.  Reduce hear to 350 degrees and bake until crust is golden

     brown, about 35-40 minutes.  

  

We also made some caramel apples.  YUMMO!

 

Logan asks for this cake every year.  It's not fall unless I make this one☺

Apple Cider Pound Cake

3 cups sugar

1 1/2 cup butter

6 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup apple cider

1 tsp vanilla

Icing:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp baking soda

In a saucepan, combine sugar, eggs, and butter.  In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients together, then add mixture from saucepan.  Put into a greased bunt pan at 325 for 70 minutes.  Combine icing ingredients in saucepan. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. While cake is warm, drizzle icing on top of cake.

 

Here are a few books we read in addition to our Five in a Row book.

3 in 1 by Joanne Marxhausen (I LOVE THIS ONE!  It's a great explanation on the Trinity using an apple)

Johnny Appleseed by Reeve Lindbergh

Apple Trees and the Seasons by Julie K. Lundgren

 

We also did a taste test with five different types of apples.  This was a fun experiment.

 I sliced them up and put them on a plate for them to try and see which one they liked the best.

This was interesting to see because I always buy Gala apples because they are my favorites, but neither one of them picked that one.  I guess I will start buying different apples☺

This doesn't surprise me.  Lucas, my Sour Skittles loving child, picks the tartest of them all.

 

Here is our book we put together.

 

Next week to France with Madeline.