"Hand-held" Homemade Apple, Ginger and Fig Pies!!!!

"HAND-HELD" HOMEMADE FRUIT PIES!!

We have this giant apple tree in your that yielded heaps of juicy, delicious, sweet apples this year so I did what any other good wife would do…I baked a pie!! But not just any old pie, individual "hand-held" apple, ginger, fig pies! I've never really been a fan of good ole American apple pie and always found it to be pretty boring and unreasonably sweet. So I figured I could put my own twist on it, try to make it at least a little bit healthier for us and it would still be amazing! Then of course, I'd smother it with a bunch of stuff that's not so healthy, so ya see?? The balance of the world is restored!

The reason hand-held is in quotes is because while that was the intention, and you could most definitely hold one in your hand, they turned out to be rather large and taste divine with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on top, drizzled with caramel sauce and sprinkled with cinnamon cardamom sugar. So hold if you'd like or indulge as you should! 

I'm not quite sure what kind of apples these are but it certainly doesn't matter which ones you use.

 I picked a bushel and headed inside. I only diced up about 4-5 since it was just the two of us and it was more than enough to make 4 giant little pies.

Just try to not eat all of this before you put it in the pie shells! It's SO good!!

Then I mixed in some cinnamon, sugar, nutmeg, cardamom, a little salt, vanilla extract and about a tablespoon of caramel sauce. Maple syrup would probably work fine too, I just happened to have some caramel in the fridge and figured it would help to bind it all together.

I've always been a big fan of utilizing whatever I have on hand and figured this would be the perfect time to try some of the amazing fig preserves we got from our cousin's, Cort and Chrys, in Austin. It was a great idea! Along with some freshly grated ginger, it complemented the apples perfectly so I threw it all in there!

Now here comes the easiest part, the crust! Ordinarily this would be the part I dread because sometimes you just feel like making something as quickly and easily as possible…this was one of the times! You can't get much easier than store bought pie shells from the freezer section of your grocery store. They're like $1.50 for 2, crazy cheap! Take them out of the freezer and let em thaw for about 15 minutes at least, then you can just turn them upside down on your work surface and they should slide right out. I sprinkled mine with a little sugar so they didn't stick.

Once you pop em out, just slice em half right down the middle and place about 2 tablespoons or so of the filling in the center, near the top. 

Then just fold the bottom half up… 

And voila'! A piece of pie!!

Now, if you press the edges together ever so slightly, you can pick it up and add more filling if you'd like. Or even take some out if you think you're gonna have a big mess when you squish it together. 

Gently pinch the top edge together when you're done filling and place it gently on your work surface.

Take a fork and seal the edges. If it starts to stick, just dip your fork into your cinnamon sugar mixture and it'll work like a champ!

Do that around both edges and you're all set.

Brush with melted butter then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. I also threw some cardamom in there cuz I can't get enough of it.

Cut a tiny slit in each of your pies so that the steam can escape.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees then pop em in there on a slightly greased, non-stick cookie sheet for about 18-20 minutes until the edges are nice and brown.

YOU MADE PIES!!! 

Now just top with some vanilla ice cream, drizzle with caramel (honey would be good too!) and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar!

YUM!!!!

 "Hand-held" Homemade Apple, Ginger and Fig Pies 

 Makes 4 servings

Filling:
4-5 Apples, diced
Fig Preserves (Apple Butter would be good too)
Freshly Grated Ginger
Caramel Sauce 1 Tablespoon or so for filling, more to drizzle
Cinnamon, Sugar, Cardamom, and Salt to taste

2 Frozen Pie Shells
2 Tablespoons or so Melted Butter
Cinnamon Cardamom Sugar (mix to taste)

Vanilla Ice Cream (optional but highly recommended)

 As you might notice, my measurements are pretty vague and usually always are. I'm not much of a measurer and neither should you be…LIVE ON THE EDGE!!! DIE BY THE PIE!!! 

 And have a nice day!! Thanks for reading :)

Juicy, delicious homemade SANGRIA!!

On your way to a refreshing day!

Gather your fruit!

Get yourself a nice deep pitcher! I like a clear one so that you can see all the fruit.

Sangria is definitely a place for experimenting, go traditional with cinnamon sticks and brandy or put your own twist on it and add watermelon schnapps and fresh mango!

Making a delicious and refreshing pitcher of Sangria is easy as pie! Actually, it's much MUCH easier!

I've been experimenting with sangria recipes for years now and have discovered that you really can't go wrong. (Are you starting to sense a theme here?) I love dishes and drinks that are fun to play with and hard to screw up! Playing around with the easy stuff will help build your kitchen confidence so when it comes time to make things like Beef Bourguignon you'll have no problem channelling your inner Julia Child!

The following is a very loose recipe. I just add ingredients until it tastes the way I like it to, some people like a sweeter sangria, some like more of an effervescent sangria, it's totally up to you! I like this one!

INGREDIENTS:

6 Cups bottle of Red Wine 

2  Cups or more Peach Schnapps

1 Cup Fruit Juice

1/2 Cup Soda Water (only if serving immediatley)

1 or 3 Oranges, apples, pears, peaches (whatever you'd like)

a handful or 2 of fresh berries

Garnish with fresh mint sprigs and drink it!!

Cut thick slices of oranges, lemons, limes and large chunks of apples, peaches, pears for a more stimulating presentation!

CUT UP YOUR FRUIT!

Some people like to cut their fruit into very small cubes, I don't like this method for two reasons...first, the large beautiful slices are more visually stimulating when seen thru the glass pitcher (presentation is always huge no matter what you're making!) and secondly, it's a lot easier to suck that juice down if you don't have to sift it thru all the tiny pieces!

Now choose your fruit.  Again, you really can't go wrong here. I like to include a variety of oranges, lemons, limes, peaches, pears or apples. And always feel free to throw in mango, pineapples, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, or even watermelon!

Now for the booze!! Start off with a decent red wine. No need to spend top dollar here because it'll just get lost with all of the other wonderful flavors. But don't go too cheap either. I like to stay around $10 for one of the big 1.5L bottles, like a Rex Goliath or Little Penguin Cab will do just fine. Some people stick strictly with chianti but I think this is another area where personal taste comes into play, experiment and see what you like best.

Many recipes call for triple sec but I think Peach Schnapps is much better and gives it a nice rich flavor.  Next add some type of juice, I like a little orange juice or a can of pineapple, peach, pear or mango jumex. Again, just try it and see what you like, I've used limeade too and it was delicious! The beauty of sangria is that you can add whatever fruit or juice you have around the house and it's gonna taste great!

If adding berries always wait until the end, that way they don't get destroyed when you're stirring it up and tweaking your flavor!

If serving immediately, add a little sparkling water or ginger ale to give it a lil spunk! If I'm just going to keep it in the fridge for a week, I leave it out.

Garnish with a fresh sprig o mint and suck it down!!