Step by Step...and GIVEAWAY WINNER!!

I've talked it up and talked it up....and now finally here it is! My Dad's WORLD FAMOUS UNBELIEVABLY DELICIOUS AWARD WINNING APPLE PIE!! (Well, if your world is a teeny town in Wyoming, but the rest is all true).

Oh, you thought I was going to announce the winner of my fabulous giveaway? I will. After I tease ya a bit with this loverly step by step!

On Friday, my girl Kristie came over so I could give her a pie tutorial. I mostly remembered to take pictures along the way. We ended up making 4 pies and a couple of baby tarts with the leftover scraps. Quite a nice way to use up approx 15 pounds of apples.

First up, I peeled, cored and sliced them all up, being extra careful not to include any little wormies in the mix. I know they would be extra protein and all, but.... I was kind of sad to see the peels go in the trash bowl. It's the best part! Next time--pie with peels, everyone!! I am happy to report that I followed my papa's recipe to a T by using the evil of all fats: Mmmm...lard I try not to think about it. Since I was being all "authentic," I even decided to actually GREASE the pie tins instead of just using a little spritz of Pam. Daredevil, I am. After mixing up the top-secret crust, I chunked it out into four equal sections (enough for top and bottom crust for two pies), and let it rest for a sec before rolling it out. That's a little tip my daddy told me. If you let the crust sit for a little bit after mixing, it rolls out about a billion times easier, which is nice because then it doesn't tear like a darn wet tissue for pete's sake. After placing beautifully rolled out crust into your GREASED pie tin, layer in apples, sugar, spice and some little dobs of BUTTER (OMG, who AM I???).Cover with your top crust and make cute little designs on the edges to help it stick together. Also, don't forget to poke some little holes in the top so you can see if the filling is all bubbly. That's how you know it's done! Before After Ta-dah! So, I made two, and this one is kind of the ugly duckling of the bunch, but I totally forgot to take a picture of the other one before I gave it away. Oh well. But this is a much better looking picture: And this... The only thing I did differently than my dad is that I added ice cream to the finished product. He prefers cream. Not whipped. Not from a can. Just cream. (Gag--I mean, sounds great!) My family does not believe in including ice cream with other desserts. No ice cream and cake, or brownies, and they don't make an exception for pie, either. They are ice-creamists. I don't know what's wrong with them. I like to be all inclusive, however. Deconstructed. Look at that flaky crust! My dad is a genius.

Well, you made it this far! I guess it's now time to announce the winner of my very first giveaway!
The Skinny Plate was commenter 14, so she is the lucky girl! Congratulations!! Now you can make your very own apple creations at home, just like yours truly. Kindly send me your info, and I will ship everything off asap. Thank you so much to everyone who entered. I really wish all of you could have won! I kind of felt bad picking a singular winner,but I guess that's the meaning of a contest, right?

I was so pleased with the response, and really loved reading all of your suggestions. I also picked up some great new blogs to read, and I hope some new readers of my own, too!

I also wanted to give a shout out to Willey Beers at Creative Clay Works. He is the awesome dude who created the amazing apple baker. I think I met him when I went to pick up the prize for the giveaway, and he was super cool. If you didn't win, and you're dying for a little apple lovin', be sure to check out his site. You can absolutely order online, and it's very reasonably priced. He also makes really beautiful pottery baskets and loads of cute gift items. Love it!

So sad that it's the beginning of the workweek, but so GLAD I got to give away a great prize and chow some yummy pie. Look for LOTS more apple-icious dishes coming up this week, thanks to you guys and your great ideas. Have a wonderful evening! xoxo