We received great reviews on our Thanksgiving Apple Pies so we thought we’d share with you Franca’s wonderfully popular recipe! She has led this endeavour every year since we began doing it as a fund-raiser for various youth activities 6 years ago and each year we try to top the previous one for both quality and quantity. Just one note though… Now that we’re sharing the recipe, we hope we can still count on our parishioners to buy out all our pies next Thanksgiving - as usual!

                                                  Franca’s Apple Pie Recipe

For a 9” double-crust pie:
8-9 apples (we used Paula Red), peeled, cored and sliced and placed in a bowl.
Add ½ cup sugar, toss and allow them to sit for 25 minutes.
Drain syrup from bowl then add to the apples 2 T sugar, 2 T flour and ½ tsp. cinnamon.
Toss and place into the bottom pie shell (we used Tenderflake brand this year!)
Top with 3 small pats of butter and place top crust on apples.
Moisten edges and seal all around, using fork.
Make 3 vents in top crust and brush with a little milk.
Sprinkle with Demerara (or coarse) sugar.

Instructions for baking:
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Place a baking sheet on lower rack of oven to catch any juice that may bubble over.
Do not bake more than 2 pies at a time.
Place pie(s) on middle rack and bake for 10-12 minutes, uncovered.
Reduce heat to 350°F, tent loosely with aluminium foil and continue baking for an additional 35 minutes.
Remove foil for last 10 minutes of baking time. Pies should be golden brown.
If you wish to freeze, allow pies to cool completely before placing in freezer bags, remove air & place in freezer or enjoy while still warm!