Cranberry Apple Pie

This is my favorite apple pie! Not too sweet, not too tart. Although, my recipe is more like a guideline for making the pie since I don't really measure anything. The quantities of the ingredients are to my best approximation. You can substitute fresh cranberries for dried but may want to double the sugar added.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

• Bag or approx 8-10, peeled, cored and thinly sliced apples 
• 1 cup dried craisons or cranberries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon mace
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened

Pastry for double crust pie

• 2 cups flour
• 2/3 cup + 2 tablespoons butter or shortening
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• approx 4- 5 tablespoons cold water

Directions

1. Pastry for double crust pie.
2. Combine flour, butter and salt with a pastry blender or fork until balls are the size of a large pea.
3. Sprinkle enough cold water to mixture until dough starts to clean itself off sides of bowl as you work and knead the dough.
4. Separate dough into 2 equal balls and roll out each one to fit a 9" pie pan.
5. Preheat oven to 425°F.
6. Combine sugar, flour, and spices in large bowl.
7. Stir in apples and cranberries.
8. Sprinkle lemon juice over mixture and blend.
9. Line pie pan with unbaked pie crust, trim pastry, crimp to edge of pie plate. Fill pie crust with apple mixture and dot with softened butter.
10. Brush crust edge with water and place pie crust top on top of pie, crimp to the bottom crust. Make some slits in the top crust for steam to escape. 
11. Here you can use any remaining pastry for pie decorations. Roll out and cut shapes or use cookie cutter. Then lightly press onto top.
12. Brush top of pie with egg whites for a nice glaze
13. Bake for 15 minutes. 
14. Brush top of pie with egg whites again. 
15. Turn oven down to 350°F and bake for 40 minutes longer or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits. 

Walking

..".in our most trivial walks, we are constantly, though unconsciously, steering like pilots by certain well-known beacons and headlands, and if we go beyond our usual course we still carry in our mind the bearing of some neighboring cape; and not till we are completely lost, or turned around, - for a man needs only to be turned around once with his eyes shut in this world to be lost, - do we appreciate the vastness and strangeness of nature. every man has to learn the points of compass again as often as he awakes, whether from sleep or any abstraction. not till we are lost, in other words not till we have lost the world, do we begin to find ourselves, and realize where we are and the infinite extent of our relations."

Henry David Thoreau

Fall Bulbs for Spring Blooms

One of my simple pleasures in life is the much needed burst of color of spring flowers after a long, white, and drab winter! To ensure a burst of color this spring (and each spring thereafter) plant bulbs right now in the fall.  I found that it is much easier and more affordable than I thought. I picked up these bulbs half off (approx $3/each) at Ocean State Job Lot. Your odds are better to find them on sale if you wait until later in the planting season. Make sure that the bulbs are not crushed or dried out before you purchase them. I chose these particular flowers based on they're bloom season- so that I will have a colorful display from approximately late March to early June. Crocus bloom early in the spring, Daffodils bloom early to mid spring and finally Iris's bloom mid to late spring. Once you get them home just decide where you want the blooms to come up and then plant. (Keep in mind they will multiply over the years.) Planting is as simple as cutting the shovel in the ground, pulling up the earth enough to place the bulb in, and then gently pull the shovel out. The general rule of thumb is to plant before the ground freezes. You don't even have to rake any leaves away from the area as they actually help insulate the bulbs throughout the winter. In the spring, say sometime in March, rake the leaves away and wait for the display. I'll post some photos once they start to come up this spring and would welcome anyone else to post pictures of their spring flowers as well. Happy planting.