67 Years Old: Apple Pie Festival
Every year, when winter comes, I buy apples on Mercari.
Apple farmers offer ones that don't meet standard specifications at a low price. The ones I bought in November included 30 small apples, so I was munching on them every day and they disappeared in no time. I thought I had chosen a smaller amount for my second purchase, but there were over 20. This time, too, they had a sweet scent, and I couldn't help but take a bite... Mmm... delicious!
Apples at the supermarket are expensive, too big, and not something you can just casually bite into. When I said that, my daughter told me, "Hardly anyone bites into apples like that these days." I feel sad at the thought of not being able to bite into an apple anymore. (Because it would mean my teeth have gone bad.)
I've heard that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. That's how good they are for you. Since I have so many apples, I decided to try making an apple pie.
I bought frozen pie crust and used a recipe where the apples are used raw. In short, it's a recipe where you only put it in the oven once. However, perhaps because of the large amount of apples (8 apples), the top burned in no time while the bottom remained raw. It seems it didn't go well because the material of the pie dish was different from what I saw on YouTube. However, since it would be a waste to throw away the apples, I peeled off all the pie crust, threw it away, and wrapped the cooked apples in new pie crust. I also changed the pie dish to a metal one. I covered the top with aluminum foil, lowered the temperature, and baked it while keeping a close eye on it.
This time, I managed to bake it well. It was heavy and weighed 1.2 kg. A powerful apple pie packed with the delicious flavor of apples was finished. The taste was also outstanding, and I am grateful for the delicious apples that were grown with reduced pesticides, no fertilizer, and no herbicides.
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Since I still have plenty of apples, I decided to make an apple pie with custard cream this time. This time, I decided to cook the apples before making it. I tried making the pie crust using salad oil. It's cheap because I can make it with things I have at home.
I didn't peel the apples, just cut them into chunks and boiled them in a pot. The recipe for the custard cream called for 4 egg yolks, but that seemed like a waste, so I made it with 2 yolks. I baked only the pie crust first, spread the custard cream on top, and added the cooked apples. Since everything was already cooked, it was finished by just lightly baking the top.
The apple pie with cream was also delicious, but I felt that the cream was interfering with the flavor of the apples.
There are still more apples.
This time, I decided to ask my sister in America for a cheap and easy way to make pie crust. I've heard that they do a lot of oven cooking over there, so there must be a good method.
She gave me a simple recipe: 2 cups of flour, half a cup of vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 5 tablespoons of cold water, but it seems the size of American cups and Japanese cups are different. Also, the shape of the pie dishes is different, and there is even a metal ring to cover the top.
Everything is different, but I tried making the pie crust using it as a reference anyway.
When I put the apples in raw, the heat didn't penetrate well, so halfway through, I took them out of the mold and put them directly on the baking sheet. I struggled again this time, but I managed to make an apple pie. The shape is bad, but the crust is crispier and tastier than the one I made before. After all, just apples is better.
I made apple pie three times in a row in one week.
The fact that I made it means I ate that much.
I haven't weighed myself recently, but if I've already gained weight even though the end of the year is approaching, I won't be able to eat delicious food. I'll spend the remaining 4 days cleaning the house to burn off some calories.