I just love apple pie! Since a child, it has been my favorite dessert, and I have been on a quest to create a "Simply Perfect Apple Pie" for more than 25 years. My grandmother was a fine baker and I eagerly awaited her apple pies each fall. I began pie-making with her recipe. Yet, as my palate became more sophisticated over the years, I yearned for a pastry crust that zinged, that was tender, buttery but not crumbly or pasty, and for a filling I wanted apples that sang in my mouth, not mushy nor watery, but slightly tangy without puckering. In essence, a pie that could stand on its own merit before being crowned or cloaked in any cream, be it iced or whipped. Drum Roll! *** Recipe From Renée Adler Aschers Kitchen *** "Simply Perfect Apple Pie" The Pastry - For one 9-inch or 10-inch double crust Ingredients; 9 tbs. chilled unsalted butter 6 tbs. (1/4 cup) chilled vegetable shortening (Crisco) 1 1/2 tsp. sea salt 2 cups all-purpose flour (measured after sifting 1 cup whole wheat flour* (see note) (measured after whisking lightly to loosen) Dash of ground nutmeg 1/2 cup ice cold water (more added as needed, a teaspoon at a time) * I prefer to use Arrowhead Mills® Whole Grain Pastry Flour (readily available at specialty or health food stores in the Tri-State area) Pie Crust Instructions: NOTE: For the best crust, be sure to use a glass pie plate (Pyrex) Processor method (Preferred) Put flour and salt in processor with steel blade and pulse on and off 2 times. Add butter cut into several pieces and process 5 times. Add shortening to processor bowl and pulse on and off again until mixture resembles coarse meal with many pieces on the large side. Add the 1/2-cup of water and pulse no more than 9 to 10 times or until the dough just begins to gather together. Add more water one-tablespoon at a time if necessary. Quickly remove, gather loose pieces together, and form into disks dividing dough making one part slightly larger for bottom of double crust pie. Wrap in plastic. Refrigerate at least one hour, or overnight. If chilled more than one hour, it is important to soften dough at room temperature a short time until workable before rolling. (Hand method Combine flours & salt in bowl. Cut butter and shortening into dry ingredients using 2 knives or working quickly with fingers until mixture resembles coarse meal with some large sized pieces. Add 1/2-cup water, tossing with a fork. If needed, add more water a teaspoon at a time until dough holds together and forms a ball. Divide dough as above, refrigerate.) Meanwhile make filling The Filling for a 9" to 10" pie depending on preference for a thicker or thinner filling Ingredients: 5 to 6 large Granny Smith apples (about 2-1/2 lbs.) peeled, quartered, cored, and sliced approximately 1/4-inch thick 1 tbs. strained lemon juice 3/4 cup sugar 1 tsp. ground cinnamon Large dash of freshly grated nutmeg (or powdered) Dash sea salt 2 tbs. flour 2 tbs. unsalted butter Sugar for sprinkling crust Preheat oven to 400º Mix apple slices with lemon juice Mix together the sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and flour; add to apple slices, and stir to coat evenly Roll out the bottom pie crust (as above) Line pie plate with bottom pastry Fill with apple mixture, dot with butter. Roll out top crust Moisten rim of bottom pastry, adjust top crust Cut slits for steam to escape, seal and flute Decorate, if desired with motifs cut from pastry dough and moistened on the underside before placing. Sprinkle top with sugar Place on a thin baking sheet. Bake in the center of the oven about 50 to 55 minutes. Test with pick for tenderness of apples. Cook additional time as needed, testing every 5 minutes until done Watch crust, if necessary cover edges carefully with foil to prevent burning if cooked beyond 50 min.

A tip I got at joyofbaking.com is to prepare the apples as usual but sprinkle them with the spices & sugar & let the apples sit for a few hours & they'll release their juices. Then drain the juices off & boil the liquid down with some butter. Pile the apples & the reduced juices into the crust & make sure the top crust is well vented. The problem is that the apples are juicy & as they bake they release the juice & shrink. The above procedure will prevent the gap.

Thanks guy/gals! That pepper relish and the cantaloup sounds yummy! Here's what I have, now mind these are OLD recipes so they aren't written in cookbook format: Yellow cantaloupes or musk- Sugar melonsWater Select the large yellow variety of cantaloupe or the old-fashioned muskmelons when they are beginning to turn a little yellow in ripening. Peel the thin outer rind, and cut a very thin slice next the seeds; cut the sections in pieces one inch thick, and put them into a preserving pan with six pounds of sugar to ten pounds of fruit. Add one-half gallon of water, cover and boil until the melon becomes clear and transparent. Remove the cover and boil until the syrup is thick. Seal in jars. ====================================== Spiced Fruits: To eight pounds of fruit allow four pounds of sugar, one pint of good vinegar, one table-spoonful of ground cinnamon, one tablespoonful of ground allspice, one tablespoonful of ground ginger, one teaspoonful of ground mace, one teaspoonful of ground cloves, one tablespoonful of grated nutmeg and six crushed bay leaves; mix the spices, put them in four muslin bags and tie them loosely. Boil the sugar and the vinegar for five minutes, add the spices and the fruit and cook until the fruit is tender. Soft fruit must not remain long on the fire. Remove from the fire and cool. Next morning lift the fruit with a skimmer and put it into glass or stone jars. Boil the syrup, pour it over the fruit and let cool; do this for nine mornings. This recipe will answer for pears, peaches, apples, currants, apricots, watermelon rind, citron melon and cantaloupes. Rather than doing it for nine mornings, I would process it hot in the waterbath for whatever time your cookbook says to do the particular fruits, LOL! ====================================== Here's one that sounds more modern! CANTALOUPE OR MUSKMELON PRESERVES The melons should be ripe but firm. The rind is removed and the firm pulp is cut into pieces of desired size and shape. The prepared material is weighed and ~ pound of sugar is allowed for each pound of melon. The melon and sugar are packed in alternate layers and allowed to stand for 24 hours. At the end of this period the juice from one small lemon per pound of melon is added and the materials are set over a slow fire. Slow boiling is maintained until the syrup sheets or flakes from the stirring spoon. The hot preserve is filled into clean jars and is processed in the water bath for 2 or 3 minutes. Steph

Okay, here you go. Chicken soup with matzo balls is traditional for Pesach (Passover), but our family, like many families, eat matzo balls in our chicken soup all year round, and chicken soup for Sabbath as well as other holidays. I know scientists disagree, but all I can tell you is that this "Jewish penicillin" really does work for us when we are sick! (Matzo balls optional) Some cooks add dill, parsnips, garlic, etc. -- use whatever you like, but make sure to use a KOSHER chicken and to cook it a LONG time. Hamentaschen are cookies for the holiday of Purim, which celebrates the story told in the Book of Esther. Some people use a yeast dough; this is a cookie-dough recipe. "Hamentaschen" means "Haman's pockets" in Yiddish (Haman is the villain of the story), although I was always told they resembled his three-corner hat. In Israel, they call these cookies "Oznei Haman" -- "Haman's ears"! Poppy is the most traditional filling, and prune and apricot are also very popular, but you can use any flavor you want. I've even seen them with chocolate or peanut butter. Just DON'T use jam instead of filling and DON'T try to puree dried prunes if the store is out of prune filling -- don't ask me how I know! Genuine Jewish Mother Chicken Soup (Eat! Eat!) 1 large cut-up kosher (tastes MUCH better, even if you don't keep kosher; if you can't find one, use organic) chicken, preferably a pullet 1 onion, peeled 2 stalks celery, scraped, no leaves, cut into sticks 2 big carrots, scraped, cut into sticks about 2 T salt a few generous grinds of pepper Put chicken in pot and fill with water to about an inch from top. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and skim. Add everything else, cover, and simmer a LONG time -- at least 1 1/2 hour, but up to 6-7 is better. Discard onion. Remove chicken and save for another use (or you can put some of it back in the soup). If it cooked down too much, add more water to at least half-fill the pot after chicken is removed; don't worry, it will still have the rich chicken flavor. I like the carrots and celery in the soup, but you do what you want. You can strain the soup if you want it to look perfect and aren't in a hurry. If you make it the night before and chill it, you can remove the fat (and save it for cooking), but leave a little for flavor. Serve with matzo balls (below), kreplach, noodles, or rice. Matzo balls 2 T schmaltz* or oil 2 lg eggs, slightly beaten c matzo meal 1 t salt, optional 2 T water (or chicken soup, if you are using oil) Mix schmaltz and eggs. Mix matzo meal with salt and blend. Add water and mix. Cover and chill at least 15 minutes. Boil slightly salted water. Reduce heat to low and add balls (wet hands). Cover and cook 30-40 minutes. *Schmaltz is rendered chicken fat. You can buy it frozen in a kosher food section or make your own. In a pinch you can use fat skimmed from the soup (in which case you may need less water). You can use oil, and your cardiologist will approve, but it won't taste as good! Hamentaschen ¾ c sugar ½ c butter or margarine 1 egg 2 T milk 1 t vanilla 2 c flour 2 t baking powder poppy, prune, apricot or your choice of pastry filling (2 ½ - 3 12 oz. cans for a double recipe) In mixer bowl, beat together sugar and butter till light & fluffy. Add egg, milk & vanilla; beat well. Combine flour & baking powder; stir into creamed mixture. Cover & refrigerate dough 1 hour. On lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut with 3-inch round cookie or biscuit cutter or juice glass. Top each with ½ t fruit or poppy or prune filling. Shape into triangles by lifting up edges & pinching dough together to make 3 corners. Leave center open. Place on ungreased cookie sheet; bake in preheated 350 oven for 10-12 minutes. (My first batch usually takes a little longer.) Remove from sheet; cool on rack. Make 2 ½ - 3 dozen. (I always double recipe)