It's all in the crust...

An old dog CAN be taught new tricks - even from their kids! Or maybe that should be ESPECIALLY from their kids ... thinking on all the computer lessons I've had over the phone.

Anyway; far far away and long ago, before she was married, Carrie attended a Young Single Adult activity in Silverdale, where the gals were taught how to make THE PERFECT NEVER-FAIL PIE CRUST. When she came home for a visit and made us a pie, I just about swooned! It WAS perfect! And perfectly easy. I've never looked back, it has been committed to memory from use over lo these many years. Here's an example:

I like to brush the top crust with milk, then sprinkle with sugar, sometimes adding a dash of cinnamon for pzazz. Notice the flakey layers in the cut-out?

Love the sparkle! It makes for a super crispy top layer on all those flakey layers - the crunch is soooo enticing as you cut in with the fork.

One of the blessings of having gardener friends is that we trade and barter produce and fruit as the crops come on. Recently a friend gave me some rhubarb, of which we have none at this time, after I had presented her with a loaf of that scrumptious Pineapple Zucchini bread/cake. Then I took some of our beautiful Brooks Plums (had to arm wrestle the coons for them) to another gardener friend, and in turn she invited me to pick the last of the blueberries on her lovely high-bush plants. So I went home with a quart of blueberries, after leaving her a small bowlful - we try not be be complete hogs when it comes to fresh-off-the-bush berries.

Well there wasn't quite enough rhubarb for a pie; but my sister had recently delivered a box of stunningly huge Gravenstein apples (the apple by which all others must be measured, in our opinion). So.....

Peek-a-boo....what are you hiding?

Rhubarb Apple filling, that's what! The sweetness of the apples let me add the minimal amount of sweetener to the rhubarb, a nice trade off. And get a look at that flakey crust again!

Our resident pie-tester (mom), was more than ready to taste-test this beauty.
Dare I say it again? The CRUST, folks, the CRUST!

But doesnt' it look just a teensy bit naked? When you live in Tillamook country, it's sacriligious to serve pie without icecream! So out to the freezer where the Vanilla Bean Ice Cream lives.

With a drizzle of the buttery sauce from the pie pan, here's the final presentation to the jury.

Verdict?

DELICIOUS!! Each bite was drenched in cinnamony apple-and-cream flavor, with pieces of tangy rhubarb hitting the sides of the tongue like sparklers.

And the crust was ... PERFECT!!