As American as Apple Pie

I don't think it gets more American than apple pie, so that was my choice for a 4th of July treat. Chris and I spent an awesome weekend out in Malibu on the beach with our west coast family and friends. As usual in Malibu, there was no shortage of good food! My contribution was this apple pie, which I adapted from "The Joy of Cooking." I cook the filling, first cooking the apples in butter for several minutes covered before adding sugar, a healthy dose of cinnamon, and a bit of nutmeg. After cooling the filling, I spooned it into my pie crust with the accumulated juices and syrup. For the top of the crust, I used aspic cutters to cut stars out and used the little star pieces to further decorate the top before placing it on top of my pie. After an egg wash, I sprinkled a little bit of coarse sugar on top to lightly caramelize the pie crust upon baking. In all, if you cheat a little (like I did here) and use a pre-made pie crust, you can make this pie in less than 2 hours, before cooling.