In 1980 we moved from our apartment in Chicago with our sons who were ages 6 and 2 at the time to a very spacious apartment around the corner. This was our third move around the same square block which faced a wonderful park called Indian Boundary Park in the West Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, complete with a playground, tennis courts and even a small zoo.
Our first apartment was a large one bedroom on the first floor of a 6 flat building directly across from the tennis courts. We moved there before our first son was born and when he came along we converted the ample entryway foyer to a makeshift nursery for him.
This worked for a time until he became too aware of his surroundings at which time we gave him our bedroom and converted our large dining room to a combination dining room/family room by day and our bedroom by night where we slept on a sofa bed.
Months later when the owners of a 2 flat building a few doors down were renting the upstairs apartment we grabbed it as fast as we could. The landlord and his wife lived on the first floor, it had a small fenced in yard and had the feel of a house rather than an apartment.
It had 2 good sized bedrooms, and a small enclosed room with a large bay window off our bedroom which eventually became our younger son’s nursery when he arrived. So for several years it was a wonderful home for our family of four.
Then in 1980 we moved into the huge New York style apartment on the second floor, again in a 6 flat building, but this time around the corner.
It is there that we met our good friends when they subsequently moved into the unit above us on the third floor.
We became fast friends. She became my running partner (every morning at 6 am sharp she would knock on my door and we would go out for a 5 mile run even in the harshest winter days). She convinced me to run the Chicago Marathon with her in 1983!
Our husbands became good friends as well with shared interests in sports and business.
As couples we were close, and spent good times together, many of them centered around food as this was an interest we all shared.
In the years that followed we eventually moved to a home in the suburbs of Chicago, before moving to our current home in Maryland, and our friends moved from Chicago to Atlanta to Memphis to Fayetteville, (AR), and to Wichita, their current home.
There are friends and there are friends and the distance that grew between us has not diminished the friendship we built over 30 years ago when we lived like the Riccardo’s and the Mertz’s. (a reference for all those “I Love Lucy "fans out there).
They came for a visit this past week before going on to a conference in Baltimore. For 4 days we caught up (we hadn’t seen each other for about 6 years), eating, drinking, laughing and reminiscing as we watched old slides and talked of those days so long ago.
I planned special meals for them. This Spiced Apple Pie was dessert the first evening they arrived after a dinner of Boeuf Bourguinone served on toasted country bread with pappardelle egg noodles and a green salad dressed with a lemon vinaigrette.
This pie is one I have been making for years from a 1998 Bon Appetit. The recipe makes 2 pies, so it is always possible to have an extra couple of pie crusts in the freezer if you are not making 2 pies at the time. Just halve your filling ingredients.
It calls for cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice and the combination of spices makes this pie.
The crust is also fantastic. This time I baked it on my convection setting which really enhances the crisp flakiness of the crust.
The recipe also suggests using all Granny Smith apples, but I used half Granny Smith and half Jona Gold, and I loved the combination. Either way you can’t go wrong.
With Thanksgiving around the corner I think I’m going to have to use that extra pie crust in my freezer to make another one of these. I think you should too!
Spiced Apple Pie (Bon Appetit, Feb 1998)
Makes two 10-inch pies
CRUST
5 and ½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
1 and ½ teaspoons salt
1 and ¼ cups(2 and ½ sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces
1 large egg
7 tablespoons (or more) ice water
FILLING
6 pounds tart green apples (such as Granny Smith), peeled, quartered, cored, cut into ¼-inch thick slices (I used half Granny Smith and half Jona Gold)
1 and ½ cups plus 2 teaspoons sugar
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground allspice
1 tablespoon milk
Vanilla ice cream
FOR CRUST
Combine 5 and ½ cups flour, ¼ cup sugar and 1and ½ teaspoons salt in large bowl. Add butter and vegetable shortening and rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal.
Whisk egg and 7 tablespoons water in small bowl to blend. Add to flour mixture, tossing until moist clumps form and adding more water by tablespoonfuls if dough is dry.
Gather dough into ball. Divide into quarters.
Flatten each quarter into a disk.
Wrap disks separately in plastic; chill 1 hour. (Crusts can be made 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)
FOR FILLING:
Position rack in lowest third of oven and preheat to 400 degrees. In large bowl, mix apples with 1 and ½ cups sugar, flour, lemon juice and spices.
Roll out 1 dough disk to 14-inch round. Transfer to 10-inch diameter glass pie dish. Brush edge of crust lightly with water. Repeat with second dough disk and another 10-inch pie dish.
Divide apple mixture between crusts, mounding slightly in center.
Roll out remaining 2 dough disks on lightly floured surface to 13-inch rounds. Place 1 dough round atop each pie; press top and bottom of dough overhang to seal. Trim dough overhang of each pie to 1 inch; fold under.
Crimp edges decoratively. Cut several slits in each crust to allow steam to escape. Brush crusts with milk. Sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon sugar.
Bake pies 30 minutes. Wrap foil around edge of crusts to prevent over-browning. continue baking until crusts are golden brown, juices bubble and apples are tender, about 30 minutes longer.
Transfer pies to rack to cool.
Serve with ice cream.
