Spicy Apple Pie

Ok - so it's not unusually spicy, but my son's step-mom was very reserved with spices in her pies. Nothing wrong with that at all - we just acknowledged the difference and appreciated it as her gift of love. Mine uses a little more spice, after all, it does have to compete with my favorite pumpkin dishes!

Preheat the oven to 375*F.
Mix together dry ingredients and set aside:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp AP flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Roll out 1 pie crust and fit into the pie plate. Par-bake for 7-9 minutes to prevent a soggy bottom. Do not prick the crust!

Peel, core, and uniformly chop 3-6 (depends on size) tart apples. I use Granny Smith, but another favorite, Honeycrisp, is good too.

Toss chopped apples with 1 Tablespoon lemon juice and gently fold in the dry ingredients.

Add the apple mixture to the pie plate, then dot the filling with butter. Gently place the second pie crust over the top, crimping the edges. Cut slits in the top pie crust to let steam vent.

Cover the edges of the pie crust with foil to prevent browning too quickly.
*tip - I put my stoneware plate on the top rack of my stove, then place the pie plate on that to keep my edges from burning before the pie is done.

Baste the top crust with whipped egg whites or butter, then bake for 25 minutes. Pull the aluminum foil off, return to the oven for another 30-35 minutes.

Serve with whipped cream. Immediately. Or good vanilla ice cream. Yeah. Another scoop, please! What's that? Whipped cream on the ice cream? Sure! It's a no-calorie holiday!

Yummy Pumpkin Cobbler

I've adapted this recipe from a combination of several others that I loved.

Line a 9x13 inch baker with foil or parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350*F.

1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
29 ounce can of pumpkin (not pie mix)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 ounces evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed)

Mix all these ingredients together and pour into baker.

Cut 1/2 cup of butter into 1 box dry yellow cake mix until it resembles coarse peas. Stir in 1/2 cup pecan pieces. Spread evenly over the top of the pumpkin mixture. Bake for 55-60 minutes, serve warm with fresh whipped cream.

Calories? No. This is a vegetable dish. It's got eggs and milk in it, so it's also breakfast.