This recipe is adapted from June’s Apple Pie

And here is the actual, famous June’s Apple Pie recipe! (Yield: two pies)

Ingredients:

For the crust

• 3 c. flour
• ½ heaping tsp. baking powder
• 1 ½ tsp. salt
• 1 c. Crisco shortening
• 1 c. water

For the filling

• 5 lbs. Granny Smith apples
• 2 c. sugar
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• 12 thin pats of butter
• Flour

Method:

1. Combine flour, baking powder and salt, and set aside.
2. Heat water until boiling.
3. While water is boiling, heat Crisco on high in microwave for 20 seconds.
4. When water boils, take off heat and add in Crisco. 
5. While Crisco/water mixture cools, pare and slice the apples.
6. Mix Crisco/water mixture with dry ingredients and divide into 4 balls.
7. Roll out two of the balls and place at the bottom of two pie dishes.
8. Divide apple slices between 2 pie dishes.
9. Put 1 cup sugar in each pie dish.
10. Sprinkle apples with 8 shakes of nutmeg and enough cinnamon to cover the slices.
11. Dot each pie with 6 pads butter.
12. Sprinkle each pie very lightly with four.
13. Roll out pie crust tops.
14. Fold each top in half, cut three slices in the middle, and place on top of each pie.
15. Pinch edges together to seal.
16. Bake at 400℉ for 45 minutes, and enjoy!

June was my mother, and not only did she teach me to bake, she taught me so much about education. She was never a formal teacher herself, but she was extremely wise in the areas of learning, human development, and positive relationships. She was the first person to not only teach me about the concept of unconditional positive regard, but she demonstrated it every day of her life. Her recipe for how to be with people was a good one indeed, and I am forever grateful to have been her “baking apprentice.”

And this is what the pies look like when they are done. They may not look like much, but many people have told me it is the best apple pie they have ever had. (And isn’t that just what we want our students to say about our Teaching Pie?)