Brown Sugar Apple Pie for Inauguration Day

What dessert could possibly be better for Inauguration Day than one that's as American as apple pie?

It's even being served at today's official post-Inaugural lunch, which is offering the following dishes on its menu:

Steamed lobster with a New England clam chowder sauce

Grilled bison with a potato horseradish cake and a wild huckleberry reduction

Apple pie with sour cream ice cream

Cheese and honey

Whether your candidate won or not, it's time to move beyond partisanship and show up for the food. And to remember that, even if our favorites don't always win, we still have the privilege of being able to make a choice. That alone is worthy of a celebration!

And so, here's a simple pie sweetened with brown sugar and a bit of cinnamon - traditional and delicious. You, too, can eat like the dignitaries who have been invited to the party in Washington, D.C.!

Brown Sugar Apple Pie

Filling:

• 5 pounds Honeycrisp apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1-1/2" chunks
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3 tablespoons butter

Place all ingredients into a large saucepan, stir to combine well, and bring just to a boil. Lower heat to medium-low, cover, and cook 10 minutes 'til just tender, stirring once halfway through. Let cool while preparing crust.

Crust (slightly adapted from a recipe on Epicurious.com):

• 2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup shortening, at room temperature
• 5-6 tablespoons (or more) ice water

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Add butter and shortening, mixing with a fork until the mixture resembles meal. Add 5 tablespoons ice water, mixing until the dough starts to adhere and form a ball, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if still dry. Gather dough together; divide into 2 pieces, one a bit larger than the other. Form each piece into a ball; flatten into disks and wrap in plastic. Chill for 30 minutes.

Pie:

• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1-1/2 tablespoons sugar

Preheat oven to 425F.

Take one portion of crust and roll to a 12" circle. Place into a 9" pie pan.

Pour filling into crust.

Roll remaining portion of crust into a 12" circle. Lay over pie filling, trim edges (leave a 1" overhang), fold edges of top crust under bottom crust, then crimp to seal. Cut small slits into the top of the pie.

Combine egg and water, and brush egg wash over the top pie crust. Sprinkle with the sugar.

Bake pie for 30 minutes, then lower heat to 350F and bake for 10-15 more minutes until filling is starting to bubble and crust is golden. Remove from oven and let cool.

Makes 1 pie.

Opening Day!!!

Today is Opening Day of baseball season -- Tigers at Yankees at 1:05 p.m. EDT on ESPN. For a girl who grew up in New York City and who's lived near Detroit for more than 30 years now, this is a primo way to start things off!

Although I'm loathe to admit it -- and I do my very best to keep my grey roots hidden so that folks can't tell my age by counting the silver, the way they count rings in a tree! -- I have to admit that I'm old enough to remember those mid-70s commercials touting All-American icons: baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet.



And each year on Opening Day -- a day which, as far as I'm concerned, should be a national holiday 'cause folks are either playing hooky or watching games on MLB.tv, but they're sure not working! -- I can't help but think of the old ads.

Because I adore baseball -- I was raised on it, going to Mets games (one of my mother's best friends is married to one of their former coaches) ... Yankees games ... and actually being at Yankee Stadium on June 17, 1978 for the game in which Ron Guidry pitched 18 strikeouts to tie the American League record. I think the quadrennial (it should be annual!) World Baseball Classic is one of the greatest things in the entire universe, as I can wake up in the morning to watch a game pitting Japan against China, come home from work and watch Italy play the Netherlands, and then fall asleep watching Cuba play Canada. It just doesn't get much better in my world!

I raised Jeremy on it, too: minor league games, t-ball, Tigers games, even Alaska Baseball League games when we spent part of a summer in Anchorage while my ex-husband did a medical residency rotation at a Native Alaskan treatment center. (The Alaska Baseball League describes itself as "A Premier Summer Collegiate Baseball League Containing Players From Major Colleges Throughout The World".) And any time the University of Michigan's baseball team is playing on Mother's Day, that's where you'll find Jeremy and me -- 1 p.m. on May 8, this year!

I also love apple pie, and I just happen to drive a Chevrolet -- a Chevy Suburban. But my tradition is actually much simpler: hot dogs and Cracker Jacks, those consummate baseball foods. No beer necessary (don't like it at all) but maybe a soda, which I almost never drink, just 'cause it's a celebration!

So, what sorts of unofficial holidays do you celebrate? And how do you do so? Every family has its own traditions, after all, apart from those the rest of society acknowledges; and these are so important to pass along through generations, integral to forming a family identity.

Let me know ... and it's okay if you stop mid-typing to catch a great play or to take a bite of your hot dog while watching the game today. Have no fear -- I'll understand completely ... :)