My new favorite toy
by Rebecca on 2008-10-19
I like making pies, and Iʼm always trying new ones. Custard pies, cream pies, meringue pies — theyʼre all good. The one pie that Iʼve been afraid to try is an apple pie. Why, you say? Isnʼt there something about baseball, moms and apple pie being all that make America good and true?
First, because Iʼm terrible at lattice tops. I tried to make one for a peach cobbler once and ended up mad. Gah. (But why does an apple pie have to have a lattice top? Why, why, why? Does it make the pie taste better? Probably not. And it aggravates the cook, especially if the cook is me.) Second, because I think peeling and thinly slicing 4 lbs of apples is annoying. Iʼve made apple butter a few times, and itʼs the same idea. Peel, peel, peel, peel for 30 minutes and then slice, slice, slice, slice for another 30 minutes. As you can see, I donʼt really have the temperament for a lovingly and beautifully crafted apple pie that took me hours to make and that will be eaten in a matter of minutes. At least with apple butter, you end up with a lot, and it lasts a long time. A much better return on investment of time, in my opinion.
Well, now Iʼm going to have to make an apple pie. What?
This is why. A few weeks ago, William and I found ourselves in Marshallʼs exploring the shelves in the back of the store where they have all of the fun, random housewares. And we found an apple slicer/corer/peeler. Iʼd read about those on the Bakers Banter blog, but I just couldnʼt imagine that something as wonderful as that could really work for an amateur like me. But it was only $15, so we thought weʼd try it out and see if it really did slice/core/peel.
And it did! Looky, looky. First you pop the apple on the machine. And then you turn the handle.
And it peels and cores and slices that apple in about 10 seconds. Amazing! And if you like apple peel, this is what you end up with.
How do you like them apples?