Apple pie and coffee what a great way to start a day; there is only one thing that would improve this combo and that is a few fresh, locally grown strawberries on the side.

The other day the weather was less than welcoming so as it was technically a day off I decided to catch up on my reading. There is always a pile or two of books, near my favourite reading spot so I though I’d begin at the top.

Wandering around the second hand book store last week, I spotted a paperback copy of Owen Wister’s The Virginian. This is one of the original westerns that set the model for the dude goes west tales.

Many years ago Westerns were a mainstay but I have strayed a long way from that genre, however, this seemed to be a perfect book for a rain soaked day.

I’d been reading for ten minutes or so when my mind, as it too often does, turned too thoughts of food, so rather than struggling with my mind’s urge to grab a snack and reading on, I went to get an apple.

The apples were not in the best shape, so I grabbed some strawberries instead. The it struck me, why not bake an apple pie. We could have it for desert tonight and a slice with coffee in the morning. Now that is a good way to end a weekend and begin a week. Coffee and pie are an ideal morning start.

There were frozen pie shells in the freezer so this was going to be simple. I also had some rhubarb that I had been given and had made compote with, perhaps a table spoon or two of that in with the apples. The compote was made without sugar and was too tart to eat alone. It went great with oatmeal though, but that is another tale.

Apple & Rhubarb Pie:

Ingredients:

1- 8 apples peeled and diced

2- 3 tablespoons rhubarb

3- Cinnamon & nutmeg to taste, I sued about a teaspoon of cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg

4- 1 tablespoon of maple syrup. This was made by someone I knew locally and the pie simply called out for it.

5- 2 frozen pie shells

Preparation:

1- layer diced apples in pie shell

2- add rhubarb

3- add maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg

4- use second crust to form top of pie

5- with fork poke a few holes in top crust

6- place in pre-heated oven to 350

7- cook for 50 minutes.

Remove, let cool and serve.

The pie was tasty but improved over night in the fridge and was delicious in the morning with a few strawberries on the side and a hot cup of fair trade coffee.