Autumn Apple Pie ~ Betty Crocker Cookbook Recipe

I recently bought a big bag of Honey Crisp apples to appease my daughter who heard all about them from her school teacher.  Came home and realized they cost me $20!  Each of the kids ate one and then the rest of them sat in a bowl like a treasure chest filled with gold until I finally decided to make a pie.

Thinly sliced apple, sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and little butter pieces atop the apple mixture. 
I used a Tenderflake crust because let's face it, I had five kids here!

I had hoped to use my Pampered Chef apple slicer/peeler/corer but my apples were on their last leg and too soft.  I ended up peeling with a knife.

Tossed the apples into the dry ingredient mixture

This is the exact moment that I knew I was going to love this pie.  Amazing aroma.

Added little butter pieces to the top and made my apple stack HUGE.  I know they cook down.

Had to stretch my crust to the max to fit over the apples.  Added tablespoon of water and sprinkled with sugar.

Closeup of my sugar coated crust.

Little ridge of foil helps to prevent burning around the edge of your crust.

Remove the foil for the last 10 minutes or less of cooking.

Crunchy sugar crust goodness!

Some cracking of my crust took place when I tried to lift the hot pie from the cookie sheet it was resting on in the oven (for spillage control).  Oops! 

The Arsenal

I'm feeling really grateful for the generosity of my Mom and my Mother in Law who gave me lots of their old cake decorating supplies.  Everything from Wilton themed pans to decorating tips and books.  And especially my hubbie Paul, who bought me the Ultimate Cake Decorating set and has been full of encouraging words since I decided to take up a hobby.  Even joining me on a run to Michaels to line up in at the next isle with another 50% off coupon so I could get a great deal.  I haven't taken pics of it all yet, but here is some of the tools of the trade that I have to date.

Little Organizer for my icing bags

A book from my Mom.  Great recipes in this that I'm itching to try out.

I've heard good things about this Wilton "Cake Release".  Hoping it's all true when I need Claire's Dora Cake to slide out of the pan.

A book for an upcoming class I'd like to take even though I can't stand the taste of fondant.

Little cardboard cake plate that came with my kit.

Another Wilton class I'm looking forward to taking.  But I have this lesson plan and may try it myself first.

My "Ultimate" cake decorating kit.  I could give Wilton a few tips on how to improve this puppy.

Half of my Wilton dyes

The other half of my dye so far.

I only complain about the Ultimate kit because I have enough stuff to fill this tackle box also.

My Wilton Tips.  Some of these are stacked above smaller versions of the same shape.

More tips and tip covers

My collection of non-Wilton tips.  Not that it makes a difference.

Couplers, the little flower pedestals, tiny tongs for handling things.  I'll learn the real terminology one day.

The Spatula collection. 

The biggest drawer in my kit houses all this stuff.  I use ziplocks to keep like-minded items together.

I think these are primarily fondant related tools.

More fondant and gumpaste stuff

This big plastic thing annoys me because it won't fit into any of my kits. 

Some plastic tips (Lily uses these) and a piping stencil set

Bunch of random stuff ranging from disposable bags to silicone cupcake cups.

My Wilton Basics class instruction cards.

Update on 4/28 ~ Just bought some new gear.

This Jaime Oliver Stainless steel bowl set.

Wilton Fondant Leaf press

Wilton fondant heart cutters

Very cool Pyrex measuring cup that has the measurements INSIDE the cup!

Wilton Candy thermometer.  Going to use this next week to make Italian Meringue Buttercream from scratch!

My first mini muffin pan

A cake recipe book to use with mixes. 

FINALLY found my coveted Dora icing colors set for Claire's birthday cake.

collapsable cooling rack

Cakes from scratch cook book.  LOVE this pastry chef.  Warren Brown did a youtube tutorial for the Italian Meringue Buttercream that I'm dying to make.

The second, smaller mini muffin pan.

Oh it was cheap and I was dying to have a huge cake icer tip!

My fav thing ever!  Kamenstein magnetic rack with 6 cannisters.  I bought 2 for my non seasonal sprinkles and sugars.

The jars have a pour spout, sprinkle spout or the lid can open to scoop out contents.  The best part is that the big magnetic circle on the back of these jars also stick to the magnetic wall in my kitchen!  So, instead of screwing the base into my cabinets, I'm considering painting the inside wall of one of my cabinets with magnetic paint, and then painting off-white over that to match the interior walls.  THE BEST solution ever.  There may be more of these jars in my future.