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Colette & Cassi's Country Kitchen!

PERFECT APPLE PIE

9 or 10-inch double pastry crust, prepared and rolled
6 to 8 medium tart, firm apples like Granny Smith, peeled and sliced

Sauce:
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Topping:
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons flour
6 tablespoons light corn syrup
4 tablespoons softened butter
1/4 cup walnuts, rough chopped

Preheat oven to 425 F. Place bottom crust in large deep-dish pie pan. Fill bottom crust with sliced apples. In a small bowl, combine ingredients in sauce mixture and pour evenly over apples. Combine ingredients for topping mixture. Put about 1/2 cup of the topping mixture on top of the apples and sauce mixture. Cover with top crust. Make several slits for steam. Bake for 45 minutes or until apples are tender and juices are bubbling. Remove from oven.

Spread the rest of the topping mixture over the warm pie, being very careful not to break the crust. Return to oven for 10 minutes or until topping is bubbly. Make sure you don't overcook or the nuts could burn. Remove from oven and let cool completely before cutting. Serves: 8

If you don't already have a favorite pastry recipe, here's one of my favorites, because it really is foolproof!

NEVER-FAIL PIE CRUST
3 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cup Crisco

Mix above ingredients together until it looks like meal.

1 egg
2 tablespoons vinegar
4 tablespoons water

Beat above ingredients together and then add to the flour/Crisco mixture. Mix with a fork just until blended. Do not overwork. Yield: two 10-inch piecrusts. (Can be stored at this point in plastic wrap for up to one week.)