apple pie.

America is supposedly known for baseball and apple pie.

I didn't know why until I Wikipediaed it (yes...I just made Wikipedia into a verb). And apparently the apple pie part had to do with the colonists. But, not really. Because there weren't apples in early American history and the apple trees had to be sent over from England...and most of the time he apples were just used to make cider...or something like that. It wasn't until the 1970s that the apple pie became known as a symbol of America, and even then, it was just an advertising scheme. Apparently, since cider was outlawed during the prohibition, people didn't think too fondly of apples. So, the Apple Marketing Board coined phrases like "an apple a day keeps the doctor away!" and "as American as apple pie!". So, that's your apple pie history lesson for the day...according to Wikipedia.

Anyways, teaching people about the history of apple pie was not what I set out to do in writing this blog post (though, I did write a speech on the history of peanut butter for Public Speaking last year!). I wanted to share something. Something super important.

THIS.(click on it. it's a link.)

It's also know as the "Scrumptious Apple Pie" or heaven on Earth. (Okay. So I might be a bit biased in the fact that I made it for Bible Group on Tuesday night and I think it tasted pretty awesome and so did everyone else and everyone was like "Lauren you're like the bestest cook ever!" and I don't hear that very often so it's super cool. Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating a bit. But, you get the idea.)

It all started when I was looking for something to cook for Bible Group desert. I was one Facebook getting ready to leave to go by Chickfila and get a chicken biscuit for breakfast (yes, the details matter!) and Mom said I should probably look up a recipe so we could run by Publix while we were in town (because Publix is super awesome like that!) So, I decided I should go look at Pioneer Woman's recipes. And I went to the Fruit Category for the deserts because I was looking for something healthy. And I found IT. And IT looked amazing. And not healthy at all. But, I told Mom that I HAD to make IT. Because, I had my mind set on some apple pie now. So, I made it (and Mom helped me get those apples ready!) and even though the pie crust overflowed a bit and it wasn't the prettiest pie ever, it tasted amazing. And I'm making it again. But putting it in a bigger pie crust. Or putting less filling in.

So, you should all follow the link above, because The Pioneer Woman has more detailed instructions and pictures that are prettier than mine. But, here's the recipe for those that might be curious.

Scrumptious Apple Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 whole Pie Crust
• 6 cups (to 7 Cups) Peeled And Sliced Granny Smith Apples
• ½ whole (juice Of) Lemon
• ½ cups Sugar
• 4 Tablespoons Flour
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• ½ cups Flour
• 1-½ stick Butter
• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• ½ cups Quick Oats
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• ½ cups Pecans, Chopped
• ½ jars (or More) Caramel Topping

Preparation Instructions:

In a bowl mix peeled apples, lemon juice, sugar, flour and ¼ teaspoon salt. Set aside. For crumb topping, cut the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter, then add in brown sugar, oats, and ¼ teaspoon salt.

Add apples to prepared pie shell and top with crumb topping. Cover crust edges with aluminum foil and bake in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil from crust and place back into the oven for another 30 minutes. Chop pecans, and when five minutes remain, sprinkle them over the pie. Finish baking. Quiver with anticipation.

Remove the pie from the oven and pour ½ jar (or more, if you’re feeling dangerous and naughty) of caramel topping over the top. Allow to cool slightly before serving, or don’t if you can’t wait. Eat. Enjoy. Smile. Cry. Then smile again.