Homemade Apple Pie

Our apple trees, wildly growing all over the farm, untended, have begun to bear fruit in a big way. So we're trying to think of as many things as possible to use them for. Pie comes to mind rather early.

Pie crust:

• 2 cups flour
• 2/3 cup shortening
• 6 Tbs ice cold water

Pie filling:

• 1/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 6 cups thinly sliced apples

First, the pie crust.
In a bowl, cut the shortening into the flour. [You can use a fork or board scraper for this. If you feel like it, you can get a putty knife from a hardware store too, that works ok.] Once all the shortening is about pea sized, add the water one Tb at a time. At this point, try not to mix it much, and keep it cool, the hotter it gets, and the more you touch it, the tougher it gets.

Split into two portions, and shape them each into a ball shape. Roll out one and place in your pan. Roll out the second, wrap in plastic wrap, and place both the flat one and the one in the pan into either the fridge or freezer while you make the filling to keep them cool.

Now, the filling.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Make sure all your apples are peeled, cored and sliced. Then mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Then mix in the apples, making sure all the apple slices are coated with the mixture. Take out both pie crusts from the fridge/freezer. Next, place all the apples into the pie crust-covered pan. Now place the top crust on top carefully, trying not to tear it.
Crimp the two crusts together, and if the top crust tore, crimp/pinch the pieces together.

Poke some holes in the middle with a fork [or cut some holes with a knife, whichever you like the look of more] so steam can come out. Cover edges with aluminum foil to prevent over-browning, remove 15 min. before finished. Bake until crust is browned and the filling bubbles out of the steam holes. 40-50 min.

Tacos

So today tacos were requested so this is it:

• 1 lb. hamburger
• 2 tbsp taco seasoning (recipe at end)
• 1 cup water
• soft tortillas or taco shells (in the recipe, ignore the warming/folding if you're using taco shells)
  
• 1 cup of diced onion (small onion)
• 2 tsp diced garlic
  
• shredded lettuce (to taste)
  
• diced tomatoes (to taste)
  
• cheese (mozzarella and cheddar, but you can use any you like)
• sour cream (optional)
  
• hot peppers, sliced (optional)
  

First, brown the hamburger and drain off the fat. Then add the taco seasoning, salt, pepper, onion, garlic, and 1 cup water and simmer for about 30 min. Put it to the side.
Next, warm your tortillas, so that they're pliable. You can do this by dampening two paper towels (soak them with water then squeeze most of it out), then put one on a plate(bigger than your tortillas) put a few tortillas on it, then cover them with the other paper towel.

If you want, at this step you can set it up like a buffet and just have everyone do their own. Or you can do it yourself. If you're doing a buffet set up the ingredients in this order, going along with the path you want everyone to move on:
Plates, tortillas (keep them covered with the paper towel so they stay warm and moist), hamburger, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, sour cream, peppers.

Assemble like this:
Put a tortilla on you plate, spread some hamburger on it, then sprinkle your lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese on it, then put a dollop of sour cream, and sprinkle some sliced peppers on it. Then fold the bottom edge up and roll the tortilla from left to right.

For diabetics, this should be a great meal, as it's got minimal starch with plenty of protein and vegetables. try to keep the ratio of vegetable to meat/cheese at 2:1 when assembling.

Taco seasoning:
6 parts chili powder
2 parts cumin
1 part cayenne pepper (you can increase or decrease depending on taste)

Mix the amount you need together, if you have too much you can store it in an empty spice shaker and store it in the pantry or spice rack.

The cooked hamburger is very versatile, try eating it on a bun or in salad!