Apple picking
For me, fall is the season of beginnings. That may seem backwards, but it marks the back to school season and, in and around Boston, September 1st is the official day to move. So fall is when things begin anew. Or so it seems to me.
Fall is also apple picking season and I love apple picking. I like meandering through the orchard, twisting the blushing red fruit in my hand, and smelling the aroma rising from the decaying fruit at my feet. I don't even mind lugging a half bushel bag of apples back to the car. I like apples, and fall is the season for them, where they're crisp (nothing worse than mushy apples) and available in abundances that demand you make apple crips, apple cakes, and, this year, apple pie.
My pie making history is brief and, until recently, not illustrious. I had attempted one pie: a blueberry pie. During the construction of said pie I was swearing with such vigor and ferocity that I cleared the apartment of all other living creatures (who actually expressed fear of me in that moment). When said pie came out of the oven looking less than perfect a small bite confirmed that it looked better than it tasted. The spices had not gotten mixed well, and, as a result, you could end up with a mouthful of cloves. My failure was made more terrible by the fact that not two weeks later I was at a dinner where someone else had made a more perfect than perfect blueberry pie that just happened to be her first pie ever. I nearly cut her right then and there.
Eight years later, I was ready to try again, but this time I was going classic: apple pie. No fancy lattice crust or crazy mile high type structure (I knew I wasn't ready for that). Just a good old regular apple pie. The kind I feared I'd never be capable of making. As if I was afflicted with a very specific baking afflication. Sure I can bake cookies, pies, profiteroles, whatever. But pies? Ack! It's my baking Kryptonite!
I'm happy to report that the pie turned out well. It won't win any prizes but it looks as it should and tastes pretty darn good. And so fall truly is the time for new beginnings.