During World War II, soldiers famously claimed they were fighting for “mom and apple pie.” Since then, apple pie has become a symbol of family and home for many Americans.

 

My mom was so proud that when she was 16 years old, she won the silent pie demonstration contest at the MN State Fair. 

After Mom died last year, I had to go through all of her papers. It was not a fun job as she liked to keep everything. But to my surprise and delight, I came across a folder all about her pie-making. 

It was cool to come across this letter from then-Senator Hubert H. Humphrey. She must have been excited to get it. 

I remember Mom baking all the time. And as she baked, she taught us all of her techniques. She passed her love of baking onto me, and I have passed it on to my children, who have now passed it on to their children! 

We got together for our annual apple pie-baking day a few weeks ago. I am way behind on getting this posted 😂 Some years, we have more people than we know what to do with, and some years, like this year, we only have three. 

We had three generations working in my kitchen to produce 23 apple pies!

Amy is always the peeler of the apples. 

Christa is usually the person who mixes ingredients with the apples. Since she was unable to come this year, Eli took over her job. Eli was a master of getting the apple cut and mixed with the spices and sugar. He told me he had so much fun that he would come back next year. He said he was demoting Christa to wrapping the pies 😂

I am always assigned the job of making the crust and filling the pies up. 

When we have the pies all made up we wrap them in tin foil and freeze them. There is nothing better than baking an apple pie in the middle of winter. 

It is always a great day for me to be with the kids and grandkids doing something that is not only fun but produces something delicious! 

    Making the pies this year was also bittersweet because Mom is no longer with us. If not for her teaching me we would not have this tradition....

I believe she was with us as we made those apple pies, watching over us and making sure we did everything right. 

Happy baking

Sharon