This is the old fashioned apple pie recipe our grandmother, who we call Memom, has been using for centuries (don't tell her I said that). It is simple and the flaky crust is easy enough that even my ridiculous niece can make it. Revel in the astonishment of all your guests when they realize you made the crust yourself!

Step 1: Ingredients

Ingredients

Ingredients below. I'll repeat them in the follow-up steps.

Apple filling

7-8 apples
2 tbl flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Crust *

2 cups flour
dash of salt
1/2 cup oil -- any vegetable oil will do, including olive oil.
1/4 cup milk

* - We often increase the ingredients for the crust by 50%. This results in a thicker crust that is easier to roll out.

Cook at 400 degrees for 50 minutes

Utensils/implements

You'll need the normal bowls, measuring spoons/cups, etc. The important item, which makes rolling out the crust so much easier, is wax paper.

What kind of apples?

Use tart apples with firm flesh. MacIntosh and Cortlands work best; Granny Smith can also be used. Don't use anything with "Delicious" in their name--they're useless for pies.

Step 2: Peel and Slice the Apples

You probably don't need a separate step to tell you to peel the apples but this is here to:

Remind you to peel the apples first.
Prove that my niece really can help around the house (it doesn't happen often!)

Once done set the apples aside. You can put them in the fridge or sprinkle lemon juice on them to prevent them from turning brown but I never bother.

Step 3: Mix the Cinnamon and Sugar Pie Filling

2 tbl flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix the other pie filling ingredients into a bowl and set it aside. Now would be a good time to preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Step 4: Make Up the Crust Dough

Before we start, here's an important tip: Mix and roll out the dough as little as possible! The more you manipulate the dough the tougher (and less flaky) the result will be. I didn't believe this at first but one time I made a pie with young relative who mixed and rolled the dough multiple times; we could have made leather boots out of the resulting crust.

Crust: *

2 cups flour
dash of salt
1/2 cup oil -- any vegetable oil will do, including olive oil.
1/4 cup milk

Mix the flour and salt, then add the oil and milk. Use a large fork to mix them together at the start then use your hands to finish. At the end, split the dough into two parts (one for the top crust and one for the bottom); one part should be a little larger than the other.

* - We often increase the ingredients for the crust by 50%. This results in a thicker crust that is easier to roll out.

Step 5: Roll Out the Bottom Crust and Place It in the Pie Plate

Take the larger ball, lay it on a piece of wax paper, and flatten it into a thick disk with more dough near the edges. Place more wax paper on top and roll out the crust until it's larger than the pie plate. Did I mention you want to roll it as little as possible?

Peel off the wax paper on one side, drop it into the plate, then peel off the other. Viola!

Step 6: Fill the Pie With the Apples and Sugar/cinnamon

Fill the pie plate with as many apples as you want, then pour the cinnamon sugar evenly around the top.

Step 7: Roll Out the Top Crust and Place It on Top

Roll out the top crust between the wax paper like before. Don't roll it too much! Once the crust is placed on top of the pie use a fork to crimp the edges tight, then make a few slits on the top with a knife. This lets some of the moisture from the apples escape while the pie cooks.

Step 8: Cook and Eat!

Place in the oven at 400 degrees and cook for 50 minutes. This will usually result in a pie with whole apple slices. If you want the apples to break down more, cook longer with a piece of tin foil on the top of the pie to prevent it from burning. I usually place a cookie sheet under the pie to catch dripping apple juice.

Let it cool and then eat. Cinnamon ice cream pairs very well with this pie but it can easily stand on it's own. Enjoy!