The wound’s mostly closed up now and the biggest bruises have faded, so I’m (slowly) getting back to work. I didn’t feel well enough to start reading physics papers or doing research yet — but come to think of it, who is? well enough, I mean — so I did a little experimenting with colored pencils and botched quite a few drawings up. Eh. I think I need to loosen up my lines.
I also upgraded Wordpress to Version 2.1 and… I don’t like it. Most of my plugins and modifications will not work, and the sidebar is wonky and I’ve lost my links page (for some reason no PHP-executing plugin will work). Rawr. I’ll fix that over the weekend, I suppose, in between playing with my art materials and trying to do generating functional analysis.
This morning I entered my room — didn’t sleep in it last night — and I found this on my bed:

Peaches, one of my two cats. (Pink tint because of my curtains.) He seems to be quite happy with having taken over my room. I suppose it’s alright as long as he lets me sleep there sometimes.
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In a comment on one of my previous posts Sexy Mom of The D Spot asked me about the apple pie recipe I used. Here it is, with some modifications (and a lot of commentary) by me. The original recipes used were for Grandma Ople’s Apple Pie and Best-Ever Pie Crust.
Ingredients
Filling:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 5 Granny Smith apples (the green kind)
Crust:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups salted butter
- 3/4 cup water
Notes on the ingredients: I reduced the number of apples needed (we had nine and ended up with two pies) and added cinnamon and vanilla as ingredients. To compensate for the vanilla you can reduce the amount of water (for the filling) by a tablespoon or so. For the crust, I multiplied all proportions (except the salt) by 1.5 since my family liked the crust so much the first time I made this that they wanted more the next time I baked. If you’re concerned about the salt (hah) you can leave off adding the salt to the crust; it will still taste good, though not as rich.
I’ve also taken quite a few liberties with the directions, as you may see below.
For the crust:
For best results, chill everything first. You’ll need to work quickly because you don’t want the butter to melt or blend into your flour mixture, so on a hot day be careful not to over-mix the ingredients; in addition, let the dough stay in the refrigerator for an hour instead of thirty minutes.
In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in butter (with a bread knife, or spatula, or pinch it into the mixture with your fingers) until the mixture is crumbly. Add water little by little, mixing just enough after each addition so that it’s evenly distributed throughout the mixture. By the time you’ve added all the water you should be able to form a ball of dough. It will not be smooth, but it’s not supposed to be. It should just barely hold together.
Divide the dough into two parts and wrap each part in wax paper or plastic. Refrigerate for at least thirty minutes before using.
For the filling:
Prepare the apples. Peel and core them, then chop them into even slices about 1/4 inch thick. What we did was cut them into quarters, lengthwise, and then into wedges, crosswise. If you like you can just cut the apples in half and then slice from there (that’s what Allrecipes suggests, anyway) but we find smaller slices more manageable. Once you’re done, cover them or soak them in water (if you want to keep them from turning brown) and put them somewhere predatory family members won’t find them.
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F/220 degrees C.
Over a low fire, melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour to make a paste. Combine white sugar, brown sugar, water, and vanilla to make a thick syrup. Add this to the butter. Mix well, then add the cinnamon and vanilla. Bring to a boil, then let it simmer for 5 minutes over a very low flame. Separate the syrup into two portions: one for mixing into the apples, and one for glazing the top crust. I suggest a proportion of about 4:1.
Putting it all together:
Take one ball of dough out of the refrigerator. Roll it out between two sheets of floured wax paper. If the dough feels somewhat sticky, you can either dust it with flour or chill it some more. Roll out the dough enough to fit a 9-inch pie pan. Dust with a little flour if the surface is sticky, then transfer the dough to the pie pan. To make the transfer easier, we up-ended the pie pan over the dough (having removed the top sheet of wax paper) then turned the whole thing over. Once the crust has been fitted to the pan, brush it with lightly beaten egg white. After this, roll out the other crust (and slice it, if you’re making a lattice-top crust), making sure to cut vents or holes into it. Optional: Bake the crust in the oven for about 5 minutes to ensure that it doesn’t end up under-cooked. While it’s baking, roll out the top crust.
Stir the filling portion of the syrup into the apple slices. Make sure everything’s mixed well, then transfer the filling to the crust. Gently fit the top crust over the filling. Brush the remainder of the syrup evenly over the top crust.
Bake the pie for 15 minutes at 425 degrees F/220 degrees C. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F/175 degrees C then bake for 35 to 45 more minutes. If you notice the crust browning prematurely or feel that the sugar glaze may burn, cover it with a sheet of aluminum foil; just don’t do this before the first 15 minutes are up.
Let the pie sit for a while before serving so that the filling has time to set. I suggest you not serve this with vanilla ice cream (as is traditional) so you can fully enjoy the sugar-glazed crust. This would be wonderful drizzled lightly with caramel, eaten in a comfy setting with a warm drink near at hand.