Fredericksburg Parent

8 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • September 2023 practical pantry Folks love fall and October events so much it can be easy to forget that the height of apple picking season is actually still the warm month of September, not October! It's always a busy time for our family, but we try to maintain the yearly tradition of apple picking at our favorite scenic place paired with a nice lunch afterwards. These days, we have to make the excursion more appealing for the teen with the promise of a yummy meal as well, because let's face it, kids that age are pretty much over the excitement of a pick your own (PYO) fruit outing! Nonetheless, we still have a good time, and part of that is due to our other family tradition of Rainbow Apple Pie! The truth is I don't really like fruit (though I force myself to eat a piece daily for health reasons) nor pie! So when it comes to what to do with all the apples we pick, my husband and son developed a tradition years ago of making their own "rainbow apple pie" —the name given due to the different colors and varieties of apples we come home with. It's a win for everyone: they have some time to bond while baking, I get the night off from supplying a treat, they get to split an entire apple pie over the course of a few days, and I get to eat the vanilla bean ice cream I buy just for the occasion all by itself! Sometimes it's fun when just a few family members have a tradition of all their own to bond over—it doesn't always have to be everyone, but all can appreciate and admire the custom! My family's rainbow apple pie recipe is super simple, can be cus- tomized and tweaked as needed, and is yummy year round. Top it off with some vanilla ice cream and caramel syrup, and you've just figured out a new way to enjoy all those fresh apples you picked from the farm! WRITTEN BY DEBRA CAFFREY Remarkable Remarkable Rainbow Rainbow Apple Pie! Apple Pie! CAFFREY'S RAINBOW APPLE PIE Ingredients 1 (9-inch) deep dish pie crust (we use a graham cracker crust) 5 cups apples of varying colors—peeled, cored, and thinly sliced ¾ cup white sugar, divided ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon 1⁄4 cup brown sugar ¾ cup all-purpose flour 6 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces Directions 1. Preheat oven to 400F. Arrange apple slices in unbaked pie shell. Mix ½ cup white sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over apples. 2. Mix brown sugar and remaining ¼ cup white sugar with flour and cut into butter until crumbly. Spoon mixture over apples. 3. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until apples are soft and top is lightly browned.

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